Dubai Design Week (DXBDW) is pleased to announce the return of Urban Commissions, DXBDW’s annual competition that offers the opportunity to develop outdoor infrastructure in the public domain for Dubai Design District. The commissions will be presented at Dubai Design Week, 4 – 9 November 2025.
This year’s Urban Commissions theme, ‘Courtyard’, explores its role as a communal urban infrastructure across local and global architectural, urban planning and public practices.
Designs should examine the courtyard’s historical function as an inclusive space fostering social interaction and community, emphasising its significance as a central gathering point whilst balancing public and private perspectives. Proposals should consider how courtyards, and by extension urban built environments, can shape communities by blurring the boundaries between public furniture and communal architecture.
Beyond the physical design, proposals should incorporate opportunities for community-led activities and adaptable programming, drawing from the social and cultural role of the historic courtyard as an urban infrastructure. The selected proposal will have the opportunity to closely collaborate with the Dubai Design Week team to implement these activities.
The applicant must be available for virtual calls with the Dubai Design Week team and must be present in Dubai to oversee the production and installation of the proposal.
The winning proposal will be granted a production budget of 120,000 AED for project development, technical plans, renders, production and installation.
