Abwab, the annually remodelled special commission and cornerstone of Dubai Design Week, announced the winner of its 2025 edition. This year’s Abwab invited practitioners to respond to the theme In the Details, exploring Ornamentalism as an aesthetic language of meaning, symbolism and embedded knowledge that has influenced architecture, objects and textiles across cultures. The winning project, Stories of the Isle and the Inlet by Maraj (Bahrain), will debut at Dubai Design District (d3) from 4-9 November 2025 as part of the 11th Dubai Design Week, held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture).
Founded by architects Latifa Alkhayat and Maryam Aljomairi, Maraj is a Bahrain based architecture and design platform dedicated to research, education and practice. Their winning installation, ‘Stories of the Isle and the Inlet’, explores the ecological and cultural layers of Nabih Saleh, a Bahraini island located between Tubli’s wetlands and Sitra’s industrial zone. Combining ornament and oral histories, ‘Stories of the Isle and the Inlet’ reflects on a disappearing ecology while raising awareness of environmental preservation and cultural memory.
Sourcing materials from Bahrain and working with local artisans, embroiderers and tailors, the work documents the island’s spatial story through a textile enclosure with embroidered depictions of the island’s flora, fauna and surrounding waters of Tubli Bay. Made from layered embroidered mesh textiles inspired by thob al nashil, the installation highlights native species and ecosystems. It builds upon conventional architectural notions of rhythm, composition, and proportion through an ornamental language inspired by the flora and fauna of the water body and land.
“We operate in many different disciplines. Sometimes we curate. Other times we design buildings. And often our work focuses heavily on material and scientific research. We thrive at this intersection which invites us to collaborate with different expertise. From interviews with the islanders and by studying the natural habitat and wildlife, we have developed a visual narrative which we hope will create a sense of awe to engage visitors in a thoughtful way.” said Latifa Alkhayat & Maryam Aljomairi, founders of Maraj.
The 2025 edition of Abwab marks a shift from previous years, with ‘Stories of the Isle and the Inlet’ presented as the sole commissioned pavilion, a format that allows for deeper engagement with the theme and a more immersive experience for visitors.
Since its inception in 2015, Abwab, meaning ‘doors’ in Arabic, has supported over 180 designers from across West, South and East Asia, as well as the African continent, commissioning pavilions that respond to timely global and regional contexts. For 2025, the theme In the Details reframes ornament beyond the notion of embellishment as embedded knowledge, transforming detail into spatial experience.
For more information about Abwab and Dubai Design Week 2025, visit dubaidesignweek.ae.
