At Dubai Design Week 2025, Abwab – the annual commission that celebrates regional design and architecture – names Stories of the Isle and the Inlet by Bahraini studio Maraj as its winning project. Led by Latifa Alkhayat and Maryam Aljomairi, Maraj explores the intersection of research, architecture, and craftsmanship, combining local sensitivity with a contemporary vision.
The 2025 edition, themed In the Details, invites designers to explore ornament as a language of meaning and knowledge. Maraj’s proposal centres on Nabih Saleh, a small Bahraini island caught between Tubli’s wetlands and Sitra’s industrial zone – a landscape both fragile and layered.
The installation takes shape as a textile enclosure, hand-embroidered by local artisans, tailors, and craftswomen. Inspired by the traditional thob al nashil, the mesh-like fabric layers depict the flora, fauna, and tidal rhythms of Tubli Bay. Through texture, proportion, and rhythm, ornament becomes architecture, a way to read the island’s natural and cultural ecosystem.
«Our work begins with listening», say Alkhayat and Aljomairi. «From conversations with residents to studying local wildlife, we’ve created a visual narrative meant to spark awareness and empathy». With Stories of the Isle and the Inlet, detail becomes a vessel of memory rather than mere decoration. Maraj’s work blurs the boundary between art and architecture, evoking the delicate coexistence between human history and the natural environment, a quiet reminder that design, at its best, is also a form of care.
For the first time, Abwab focuses on a single commissioned pavilion, allowing for deeper engagement with the theme and a more contemplative experience. Since its debut in 2015, Abwab – meaning “doors” in Arabic – has showcased over 180 designers from Asia and Africa, creating pavilions that respond to shifting regional and global narratives.
Abwab 2025 will be on view from 4 to 9 November at Dubai Design District (d3), as part of Dubai Design Week, under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
