World Bazaar opens the UAE’s first outdoor furniture experience centre
World Bazaar launches UAE’s first luxury outdoor furniture experience centre for both residential and commercial spaces.
Located in Umm Suqeim, the 14,000sqft centre features an extensive range of unique and urban garden/ patio furniture and accessories from 10 European designer brands. Every collection emulates relaxed luxury resort living for both residential and commercial spaces.
“The launch of our truly unique and immersive experience centre marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for our business, enabling us to connect with our international client base,” said Randip Dhingra, Founder, World Bazaar. “We are the only place in the UAE to offer the largest Collection of Luxury outdoor furnishing and accessories that combines durability, elevated style, and limitless design possibilities under one roof.”
World Bazaar UAE is set to become a destination for the homeowners, Landscape Contractors, Architects and Interior Designers looking for high-end outdoor furniture. The centre helps customers to visualise the space in real-time negating any use of renders or 3D modelling – serving as a lighthouse for individuals, thoughtful lifestyle designers and start-ups who want to bring their inspirational concepts to life before investing in the purchase. Their goal is to help in formulating residential and commercial furnishing solutions to maximise collaboration, creativity, flexibility, and promoting innovative ideas.
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Febal Casa inaugurates UAE’s only Italian mono furnishing store in Dubai by Al Shamsi
The expansion plan of Febal Casa mono-brand store network continues apace with the opening of a new store in Dubai, as part of the brand’s plan for expansion abroad in the Group’s most strategic markets.
Colombini Group rushes to conquer the UAE, hoping to turn this new and dynamic market into one of the most important ones for the Group.
The flagship store in Dubai, occupying roughly 430sqm, is located in Al Marabea Sheikh Zayed Road, in the Al Quoz industrial zone.The layout of the new Febal Casa store in Dubai, in line with the organisation of Italian stores, presents the brand’s idea of a contemporary home and living and is designed to enhance the value of the various collections while offering customers a truly unique buying experience. The store concept involves the insertion of an exclusive space where the customer can benefit from a high-quality consulting service, a genuine Area Experience in which to view complete samples and choose from various customised furniture proposals.
The watchword is the Italian lifestyle. Innovative concepts and high quality are the true protagonists of the showroom, conceived and set up to offer a true experience of the furnishing of a house, with a touch of Italian taste, but adapted to the needs of local consumers.
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National Pavilion UAE’s Wetland opens at Biennale Architettura 2021
National Pavilion UAE’s 10th exhibition at the Biennale Architettura 2021 (Venice Architecture Biennale) called Wetland is curated by Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto. Wetland presents an environmentally friendly salt-based cement alternative which could reduce the climate impact of the construction industry.
Created from recycled industrial waste brine, the MgO cement has been hand-cast into organic shapes recalling the UAE’s traditional coral-built houses, forming a hand-built 7 x 5 meter prototype structure. The prototype is accompanied by large-scale images created by New York-based Emirati artist Farah Al Qasimi of the UAE’s UNESCO World Heritage Site-nominated sabkhas (salt flats), which provided inspiration for the research process.
Curators and architects Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto said: “Exploring the relationship between nature and the built environment and developing new and more sustainable architectural methods are vital for our future, and this global conversation is long overdue. The theme for the 2021 Biennale, How Will We Live Together?, asks us to consider new modes for a shared future. For us, that meant examining the relationship between urban development and nature, but also reconsidering how we worked throughout our research process to bring a new focus on collaboration and collective thinking.”
The curators collaborated with specialist teams at three universities in developing the project. NYU Abu Dhabi’s Amber Lab contributed to the chemical formula for the cement; the University of Tokyo’s Obuchi Lab and Sato Lab supported the development of the construction modules and used advanced 3D remote engineering technology to formulate a viable hand-built structure in Venice; and the American University of Sharjah’s Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences contributed research that advanced understanding of the sabkhas.
Wetland is now open to the public at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale until November 21, 2021.
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POLI.design announces webinar on olfactive design for the UAE’s design community
POLI.design, Politecnico di Milano’s post-graduate school, will host a free webinar on olfactive design for the UAE’s design community on Monday, March 22, 2021, from 6 – 7 pm (UAE time).
The olfactive design, one of the least explored fields of design of all time, focusses on indoor air quality for residential, retail and office environments, exploring antibacterial efficiency and how the choice of materials may absorb or diffuse odour, related to emotional marketing.
Architecture and interior design professionals working across both commercial and residential sectors, as well as student design graduates interested in fundamentals of olfactive design, can register for the webinar here: https://share.hsforms.com/1ueKCRTutQK26JN8SXzjbqg4rs5n
Politecnico di Milano’s professor Anna Barbara will be leading the presentation, together with a scientific director Roger Schmid, and will discuss the relationship between scents, spaces, and spatial design.
Commenting on the “design of the invisible” concepts related to the sense of smell, Anna explained that scents are no longer the monopoly of the beauty industry and perfumery.
“Scent, and all its ramifications, also belong to architects, designers, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and professionals that are constantly immersed in the daily invasion of smells that surround us,” said Politecnico di Milano’s professor, adding:“In the post-Covid world, olfactive designers, as a professional profile, are now becoming in demand by the world of hospitality, retail, interior design, branding, manufacturing, as well as in the experience sector, from museums to entertainment.”
Marina Mrdjen, the founder of Dubai-based design marketing agency Intelier, will be moderating the session and the Q+A session at the end.
This webinar is part of POLI.design’s Webinar World Tour, a series of digital events, which allow design professionals worldwide to expand their knowledge in a specific design field while directly engaging with the professors of Politecnico di Milano. During the webinar, attendees will also learn about the first international online course on Olfactive design, scheduled from May 25, 2021, to December 17 , 2021.
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Recovery on the horizon for the UAE’s hospitality sector in 2021
Shubhojit Mahalanobis, director Danube Hospitality and Home, talks about UAE’s tourism and hospitality sector will rise again
UAE’s tourism and hospitality sector is all set to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the pandemic in the ongoing year. At present, the hospitality sector is positively motoring along, albeit slowly and cautiously, on the back of robust domestic travel demand, beginning to chart its way towards full-scale recovery. Although the pandemic still remains at large and the short-term economic gains have been fairly modest, the ongoing resumption of held-up construction projects, COVID vaccination drive shifting into top gear, normalisation of trade relations with Qatar, establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel, and the UAE getting ready for Expo 2020 this year represent some of the most encouraging signs instilling greater confidence in the long-term outlook and demonstrating the hospitality sector’s creative resilience and uncompromising adherence to health and safety standards to win the trust of tourists. There is great optimism that these events will have a direct and positive impact on leisure and business travel. And it seems that we are in for an enthralling session of economic recovery for the hospitality sector.
A full-fledged recovery, in great part, both in the leisure and business travel segment depends on how quickly a country is able to reestablish and win back the trust of travelers by effectively managing its vaccination campaign and its ability to positively collaborate with the private sector to bring back tourists. The UAE is presently among the top 5 nations in the world in terms of vaccination rollout, and the government has done an exemplary work in getting the citizens vaccinated. Furthermore, the country has proactively engaged its private sector to implement health and safety standards and has introduced visa reforms to attract more tourists.
It is a perfect blend of these measures that the hotel occupancy rates, beginning from December 2020 to February 2021, neared pre-pandemic levels all the while consistently breaching the 50% mark. The boom in staycations has been a major contributing factor in the resurgence of hotel occupancy rates, touching 71% for Dubai in December 2020 (the highest since February 2020) and oscillating between 50% and 70% in the past three months for all the emirates. Dubai alone witnessed 200,000 visitors flocking to the city for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
The year 2021 has started on a positive note for the UAE, as the country, according to a PWC report, became “the world’s most searched destination” this year for tourism. In another study conducted by Hilton in the UAE found out that 2021 is projected to be a very busy year for travel as more than 50% of the people who participated in the survey expressed their desire to use up their unutilised vacations from the previous year in 2021.
The UAE’s highly effective and expansive vaccination drive is all set to transform this top global destination into a safer destination for travel, which means that the country is advantageously positioned to benefit from an expected rapid uptick in the global and domestic travel. The recent diplomatic thaw with Israel has already resulted in more than 50,000 Israelis visiting the UAE. According to Central Bureau of Statistics of Israel, more than 9 million international trips were made by Israelis in the year 2019, the UAE could get a pretty good chunk of this pie as soon as the international travel slowly returns to normalcy. Israel and China being on the forefront of COVID recovery curve and the reopening of trade link with Qatar will herald a fresh influx of travelers to the UAE and provide another recovery jab in the arm to the hotel market.
The rise and popularity of holiday homes as the Expo 2020 approaches has been a phenomenon providing much-needed impetus to the hospitality sector. The ability of holiday homes to offer controlled safety and hygiene standards in conjunction with incorporation of technology and more affordable rental costs, the popularity is projected to surge ever further than it already is. Remote check-ins, digital contracts, online payment solutions, and affordable rents are highly attractive options for tourists.
The signs of latent demand for travel are visible. People are ready to go out, put the backpack on, and break the lockdown mold as soon as the travel restrictions are loosened up. They will likely choose a place, in which they trust and feel safe at, which offers the finest fusion of unforgettable experience and leisure opportunities. Therein lies an opportunity for the hospitality sector to shine. With the domestic travel being as strong as it has ever been, the resumption of Heathrow-Dubai travel corridor in March 2021, hoteliers starting to hire more people, and a slew of star-studded international events lined up in the ongoing year including and not limited to the Expo2020, the future of tourism and hospitality sector is all but predicted to make a roaring return to normalcy in the second half of 2021.
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UAE’s Capital College introduces new spatial design changes
UAE’s Capital College introduces new spatial design changes to its campus that are aimed to further enhance student experience and their safety. The college unveiled its reception area with interactive design elements while adhering to the social distancing protocols. Through this revamp, the college is set to welcome students who have opted for on-campus or blended modes of learning where the authorities will take the highest measures to keep the students safe while not compromising on their experience.
Over the last few months, the college had briefed the current interior design students of Capital College to present their ideas for the campus revamp. The brief was to ideate trending and interactive designs that can be potentially replicated by the college. Out of the numerous pitches by the students, one team’s design was successfully implemented and funded by the College. The purpose behind this exercise was to involve students in real-time projects, making them job-ready both theoretically and professionally. Students of the design programs are given numerous opportunities where they can share their creative ideas and pitch to industry experts and renowned design corporations, opening avenues to kickstart their career in this highly-competitive sector.
It is interesting to note that the entire revamp effort from conceptualisation to completion was done by the interior design students at Capital College studying for their London College of Arts Interior Design program.
In the reception or lobby section, the students have executed a unique wall with ‘Capital College’ glowing even in the dark while the rest of characters represent a puzzle that reads “I want to make history so I joined Capital, my fav college. I am on my path to make history” This gives an interactive touch to the potential students who visit the campus. Apart from these, the college has procured special material that can be easily maintained and sanitised considering the coronavirus outbreak.
Commenting on these new changes Dr Vikas Nand Kumar Batheja, co-founder & director, Capital College says “We are extremely proud of the ideas and work displayed by our talented students on interior design. They have truly set a high standard for Capital and their professionalism, creativity and design is commendable. This has been a great exercise for us to involve students in our projects which not just gives them a platform to ideate but gives the campus a fresh look and perspective.”