Downtown Design unveils line-up of global design speakers alongside iconic exhibiting brands

Dubai (WAM): Downtown Design, the Middle East platform for contemporary original design has announced its final line-up of keynote speakers at its much anticipated second edition from October 28th to 31st at the Burj Khalifa in Downtown Dubai, which is held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, and is sponsored by Emaar, and the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. The four-day event will feature a talk series titled "Original Talks", which will be held daily and will give delegates an opportunity to interact with some of the most influential individuals that have shaped the industry with their creativity, business acumen and unique perspectives. Headlining the impressive line-up this year is Mario Bellini, an international icon of design and architecture. Bellini has won numerous prestigious awards including the Medaglia d’Oro, and has also worked on milestone projects in the U.A.E., including the Dubai Creek Complex. Most recently, he has been working on the Department of Islamic Arts at the Louvre in Paris. Other notable speakers, Aric Chen, former Creative Director of Beijing Design Week and the Curator of Architecture and Design at M+ museum, Hong Kong, will discuss creating a Global Museum from an alternative perspective, while Giovanna Castiglioni of Fondazione Castiglioni, will share the story of the Castiglioni way of design, and how inspiration can arise from daily and random objects to become functional objects of original design. "At M+, we're interested in once-peripheries that have become new centres - places where people, ideas and influences converge and mingle to create something entirely new. What better place to observe this than in Dubai?" said Chen. The head of the Interior Design Programme at the Royal College of Art in London, and one of the UK’s leading designers, Ab Rogers, will speak on the closing day about key projects across hospitality, leisure and retail on which he has worked, as well as the burgeoning London design scene. Rogers said, "We are now using design and technology to build responsive solutions to change the way environment responds with its user. There is real potential to create digital inventions that work as part of intelligent, sustainable spaces to offer the occupant an immersive and multi-sensory interior landscape which they can influence and control." Speakers from leading design businesses will also take part in the exhibition and daily talks will offer visitors the opportunity to understand the business of design from international authorities in the field. Speakers will include Claudio Luti, President of Milan’s Salone del Mobile and world-renowned Italian furniture company Kartell, Philippe Zuber, Chief Operating Officer, Emaar Hospitality Group, and Stefania Lazzaroni, Altagamma’s Secretary-General, who will present key data and trends from the hot off the press Bain and Company’s Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study. "We have been following with great interest the region’s rapid growth and are thrilled that there is finally a platform like Downtown Design that brings together all the key players facilitating business relationships. The region is undeniably an important market for the sector and offers brands excellent growth opportunities," said Lazzaroni. – Emirates News Agency, WAM – http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395271256303.html