Dubai Culture announces ‘Made in Al Quoz’ Competition

Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) announces an open call for designers to participate in the first-of-its-kind ‘Made in Al Quoz’ competition. In collaboration with Art Dubai Group, the competition proposes a public seating design for the forthcoming Al Quoz Creative District. The shortlisted designs will be unveiled in January 2020 during the 8th edition of Quoz Arts Fest, an arts and culture festival in Al Quoz, organised by Alserkal.

As part of the new cultural vision for Dubai, announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which aims to position the Emirate as a global centre for arts and culture, this competition implements a key stage of the Authority’s vision to transform Al Quoz into a Creative District and position Dubai as a global city of makers. The design interventions produced through the Made In Al Quoz competition will form an integral part of activating the area for the public and makers community.

Dubai Culture is leading the transformation of Al Quoz Creative District in partnership with: Dubai Municipality; Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office; Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing; and Roads and Transport Authority. It will further consolidate Dubai’s stature as a global destination for creativity, innovation and talent.

Designers are asked to create a public seating area to activate under-utilised areas in the Creative District, and are encouraged to work with the array of talent in the UAE as well as with Al Quoz’s fabricators to actualise their design. The seating area should be thought of within the context of Al Quoz and needs to respond to an actual need that the designers have identified during their site visits, which will allow them to identify the location and best use of the public seats. The competition is open to designers from different disciplines, architects, community members and urban experts who are encouraged to form multi-disciplinary teams and submit proposals.

The design has to be suitable for outdoor installation in Al Quoz Creative District with a maximum height of 2.5 metres and should not exceed a surface area of 4 square metres. It must be easily maintained and take into consideration local climate conditions. Once the winning design has been selected through a public voting process; three pieces of the same design will be manufactured and installed entirely within a budget of AED60,000.

The Made In Quoz competition is open to all UAE residents. The winning designs will be locally manufactured and should celebrate Dubai as a global centre of culture, an incubator for creativity and a thriving hub for talent.

Deadline for submissions is 8 January, 2020, after which a shortlist of entries will be selected by the Made In Al Quoz jury. Shorlisted designs will be showcased during the 8th edition of Quoz Arts Fest, an annual festival celebrating the creative neighbourhood of Al Quoz, organised by Alserkal, on 24 and 25 January, 2020. Visitors to the festival, which is free and open to the public, will be invited to vote on their preferred shortlisted design.

To enter, participants can visit dubaidesignweek.ae , and follow @dubaiartseason @quozarts fest on Instagram for the competition’s updates.