Dubai Design Week: a traditional craft given a new spin

The Saudi architect Shahad Alazzaz and local palm-weaving artesans have created a playful pavilion for the Dubai event. In this video, she explains how the project came about.

While Dubai Design Week looks to the future, with Gulf countries embracing the 21st-Century pace of change, the event also celebrates traditional skills. It showcased several designers finding new ways of incorporating time-honoured crafts into their work.

At this year’s event the palm tree – a national symbol – was given a makeover. Woven fronds from the tree have been used to create an entire pavilion.

The Riyadh-based architect Shahad Alazzaz has joined forces with Ithra, the Eastern Province’s Centre for World Culture, to rework traditional palm-weaving into a modern, accessible design.

The traditional craft of palm-frond weaving was being left behind, overtaken by rapid modernisation. But Alazzaz is keen to create a new profile for the industry, and her initial step was to take weaving outside its usual domestic milieu. The pavilion aims to showcase both the creativity of the artisans and the flexibility of the material itself.

Click play on the video above to learn more

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