With a focus on the emerging value systems that will impact how design is created and experienced in the future, the virtual talks at Downtown Design 2020 are bringing together leading design talent from across the Middle East, Africa and beyond.

Mindful of the current challenges, this year’s talks are being presented as part of a virtual programme, which is currently being premiered during Dubai Design Week.

Complementing Downtown Design’s conceptual exhibition ‘The Shape of Things to Come’, a series of panel discussions featuring industry experts – architects, interior designers and product designers – are looking to shed light on how recent global events have made room for affirmative action and fresh design thinking that will help re-shape the hospitality industry.

Exploring design’s role in empowering communities and driving positive change, panel discussions are featuring regional architects such as Agata Kurzela, Jonathan Ashmore, Riyad Jouka, David G. Daniels and Kourosh Salehi. Demonstrating the diversity and expertise of the Middle East’s design industry, they are offering local perspectives and insight on how the profession is evolving to deliver holistic and human-centric solutions.

International architects such as Asif Khan, Nuru Karim and Paul Courtnet are also investigating how design could solve problems that the recent pandemic has brought to light and create opportunities to build resilient communities, while contemplating how conscious design can impact humanity are Pallavi Dean, founder and Creative Director of interior design studio Roar in Dubai, together with Aline Asmar D’Amman of Paris-based firm Culture in Architecture.

With a focus on future design heritage meanwhile, product designers including David Nicolas, Sacha Walckhoff and Sabine Marcelis are speaking about how innovation and creative collaboration can offer tradition and heritage a voice on the contemporary design stage.

The virtual talks are being presented on Downtown Design’s website and across their social channels. View the full programme here.