At a ceremony held this evening at Barahat Msheireb, the heart of the Design District in Qatar’s capital city, Design Doha announced the inaugural winners of the Design Doha Prize, established to provide recognition and support for exceptional designers in the categories of product design, interior design, furniture design, and craft.
Design Doha is a new Qatar Museums’ biennial, established under the leadership of Qatar Museums’ Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and a showcase for excellence and innovation in the design community in Qatar and the MENA region.
The winners of the 2024 Design Doha Prize are:
- Product Design:Fabraca Studios (Lebanon)
- Interior Design: Fadaa (Jordan)
- Furniture Design: Sayar & Garibeh (Lebanon)
- Craft: Abeer Seikaly (Jordan)
Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums and founder of Design Doha, said, “I offer my warmest congratulations to the winners of this first Design Doha Prize. Through their remarkable artistry and rising careers, the recipients exemplify the success of Design Doha in offering a new platform to practitioners across the Arab world helping them to build professional pathways and to engage with the acclaimed international design professionals who have convened at this landmark inaugural event.”
Design Doha Prize recipients receive 100,000 QAR (approximately $27,500 USD) to sustain their practices, as well as mentorship support from international designers and industry experts, access to new platforms to show their work and generate additional market exposure, a year of logistical and insurance support, and more.
Design Doha Deputy Director of Programming and Partnerships Fahad Al Obaidlysaid, “Design excellence in the MENA region is nothing new, but being able to celebrate the accomplished and inventive designers who are based here through Design Doha further elevates and supports designers and our creative industries. We congratulate this year’s Design Doha Prize recipients and are excited to see how the award helps them in their creative and commercial practices.”
Design Doha Prize winners were selected by a jury of renowned design professionals and curators representing local, regional, and international design communities.
Competitors for the Prize were required to have an established design business in the MENA region with an active commercial history of between two and ten years. Submissions were judged on criteria including innovation, practicality (including potential market demand), sustainability, and social responsibility.
The winners of this year’s prize were selected from a short list of talented designers including Mary-Lynn Massoud & Carlo Massoud; Kawther Alsaffar; Omar 'Chakil' Elwakil; Richard Yasmine; and Samer Saadeh (Product Design); Abir Fawaz; Aisha Al Mohannadi & Kaltham Al Kuwari; Areen Hassan; Bisher Tabbaa; Rana Abdulmajeed (Interior Design); Ammar Kalo; Asmaa Said and Mentalla Said; Batool Alshaikh; Stephanie Sayar and Charbel Garibeh; Sizar Alexis (Furniture Design); and Abeer Seikaly; Amine Asselman; Boo Design; Maryam Al-Homaid; Nisreen Abu Dail (Craft).
Arab Design Now, the anchor event of the inaugural Design Doha biennial, opened on 24 February 2024 and remains on view through 5 August 2024. The exhibition is a survey of more than 70 Arab
designers featuring 38 commissioned works. Design Doha also includes five other exhibitions, commissioned public artworks, and events and panel presentations covering architecture, urbanism, landscape and graphic design, craft and other subjects.
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About Design Doha
Design Doha, a new biennial for Qatar, is a new platform for local, regional, and global design excellence. Established by Qatar Museums under the leadership of its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the initiative is comprised of exhibitions, commissions, and associated programming. Projects are developed in close collaboration with local institutions such as M7, Liwan, VCU Qatar, and Msheireb Properties, as well as international partners, establishing a strong base of support and fostering a sense of community ownership. The event is held every two years, providing an ongoing focus for the rising energy of Qatar’s creative sector.
About Qatar Museums
Qatar Museums (QM), the nation's preeminent institution for art and culture, provides authentic and inspiring cultural experiences through a growing network of museums, heritage sites, festivals, public art installations, and programmes. QM preserves, restores, and expands the nation's cultural offerings and historical sites, sharing art and culture from Qatar, the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) region with the world and enriching the lives of citizens, residents, and visitors.
Under the patronage of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and led by its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, QM has made Qatar a vibrant centre for the arts, culture, and education in the Middle East and beyond. QM is integral to the goal of developing an innovative, diverse, and progressive nation, bringing people together to ignite new thinking, spark critical cultural conversations, educate, and encourage environmental stewardship and sustainable practices, and amplify the voices of Qatar's people. Since its founding in 2005, QM has overseen the Museum of Islamic Art and MIA Park, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum of Qatar, QM Gallery Al Riwaq, QM Gallery Katara and the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum. Future museums include Dadu, Children's Museum of Qatar, Qatar Auto Museum, Art Mill Museum, and the Lusail Museum.
Through its newly created Creative Hub, QM also initiates and supports projects—such as the Fire Station Artist in Residence, the Tasweer Qatar Photo Festival and the creative hub for innovation, fashion, and design M7—that nurture artistic talent and create opportunities to build a strong and sustainable cultural infrastructure.
Animating everything that Qatar Museums does is an authentic connection to Qatar and its heritage, a steadfast commitment to inclusivity and accessibility, and a belief in creating value through invention.
About Qatar Creates
Qatar Creates curates, celebrates, and promotes cultural activities within Qatar. Working with partners in museums, film, fashion, hospitality, cultural heritage, performing arts, and the private sector in Qatar, the Qatar Creates platform amplifies the voice of Qatar’s creative industries, directly connecting audiences to events.
About Msheireb Properties
A national real estate development company and a subsidiary of Qatar Foundation, Msheireb Properties was established as a commercial venture to support the foundation in achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030. The company aims to enrich people’s lives and improve the overall quality of how they live, work, and thrive by creating modern, innovative, and authentic developments.
Msheireb Properties partnered with industry leaders and experts in order to align the architectural lessons of the past with the latest in eco-friendly technologies. This new approach to urban planning combines traditional methods and modern technology to preserve the environment as well as the cultural identity of Qatar.
An emerging leader in sustainable development, Msheireb Properties uses its new design language to create buildings with a shared DNA, reviving local heritage and culture through a unified architectural idiom.
Its signature city district, Msheireb Downtown Doha, is developing a blueprint for sustainable urban regeneration.
Msheireb Properties received ISO certification from the British Standards Institution for quality (ISO 9001:2015), environmental performance (ISO 14001:2015), occupational health and safety (BS OHSAS 18001:2007), and Risk Management Standard (ISO 31000:2009).