Downtown design announces exhibitors, speakers and special installations

• • Carefully selected global interior design brands to showcase iconic and unique products
• • Guest speakers include designers Giulio Cappellini, Pauline Deltour, Ora Ito and architects Ludovica+Roberto Palomba.
• • Special installations from the Temporary Museum, Nouvelle Vague and Craftsmanship at The Workshop

Dubai, UAE, 1 October 2013: Downtown Design, a new design trade fair in Dubai has announced its final list of 40 exhibitors for its first show, taking place from 29th October to the 1st November. As well as individual brands, there will also be a stunning showcase of three special installations and a series of design talks hosted by high profile designers.

Downtown Design will for the first time in the Middle East bring together a selection of international design brands renowned for their quality products and focus on manufacturing craftsmanship. The inaugural show will be held at the custom-built location, ‘The Venue, Downtown Dubai,' in Emaar's Downtown Dubai, located on Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard. The event is geared specifically towards design industry professionals including architects, real estate developers and interior designers from across the Middle East and North Africa.

Confirmed participants include some of the world's leading design brands exhibiting for the first time in the region. Featuring the very best in furniture, lighting, accessories, flooring, textiles and new technologies, Downtown Dubai's exhibitors include: Atelier AK, Bolon, Cappellini, Carl Hansen, Cassina, Chi Wing Lo, De Castelli, De Vecchi Milano 1935, Dilmos Milano, Discipline, Emeco, Engeenius – Cykno, Evita Vonni Collections LTD, Fritz Hansen, Gaggenau, Gaia & Gino, Hossein Rezvani, Il Laboratorio dell'Imperfetto, Lamellux, Lisa Corti, Louis Poulsen, Muuto, Nouvelle Vague Volume 2, Pinetti, Poltrona Frau, Pouenat Ferronnier, Preciosa, Quadrature, Serralunga, Temporary Museum for New Design, Theodore Alexander, USM, Verreum and Vitra . Al Khaznah Tannery from the UAE will also be making a surprise announcement during the fair.

To bolster the exhibition of high end design brands, Downtown Design will also be hosting a series of design talks to inform and educate visitors to the fair. Guest speakers include world renowned designer Giulio Cappellini, iconoclastic artist and designer Ora Ito, French product designer Pauline Deltour and the Italian Architect duo Ludovica+Roberto Palomba.

 In addition to the trade fair, Downtown Design will host three installations, specially curated for the event, to engage its visitors and emphasise the quality, innovation and craftsmanship behind today's contemporary design. Installations include: Nouvelle Vague, Craftsmanship at The Workshop and the Temporary Museum for New Design.

Organised by the Institut Français in the UAE, Nouvelle Vague is a unique design exhibition curated by Cédric Morisse. Nouvelle Vague is coming to the Middle East for the first time and will feature a specially curated collection of design with an exhibition curated in partnership with UAE's Khalid Shafar.

The Craftsmanship at The Workshop installation will aim to show visitors the quality and skill that goes into product manufacturing in factories in Denmark and the careful selection of materials used. The stand will showcase works from Fritz Hansen, Carl Hansen and Louis Poulsen as well as featuring live craftsmen working on two items, the upholstery of the iconic egg chair and the weaving of a wishbone chair's seat.

The Temporary Museum for New Design, the cornerstone of Milan's Design Week and reputed for exhibiting work from some of the world's leading product designers such as Karim Rashid, Marc Sadler and Marcel Wanders, has chosen Downtown Design for its first exhibition outside Milan. Known for their innovation and design entrepreneurship, they will be exhibiting pieces from cutting edge brands including Astrini, Crjos, Landor, Melongranoblu, Slide, Slide Art, Tagina and Zava.

Cristina Romelli Gervasoni, Downtown Design Fair Director, said: “Downtown Design brings quality driven, international commercial design brands to the Middle East. We aim to act as a platform for business networking. The Middle East is a very appealing market for the brands we have selected and we are delighted to be able to bring to Dubai new brands who are debuting in the Middle East for the first time at Downtown Design.”

Alongside the exhibition, Downtown Design will also feature an extensive programme for trade professionals and visitors to engage with some of the world's leading designers and to network with key figures in the industry. By providing a unique platform to give international brands access to the rapidly growing market of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), Downtown Design is set to become a key design show on Dubai's creative landscape, thereby fulfilling His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, recent decree of increasing the overall contribution to the creative sector to Dubai's GDP”.

The four-day event, which will be free for trade visitors and industry professionals between 12pm and 8pm daily, will also be open to members of the public from 5pm to 8pm on 29-31st October and 12pm-6pm on Friday 1st November. 

More information about Downtown Design can be found at www.downtowndesign.com and online registration is now open for trade visitors.