Dubai Design Week's annual competition, Urban Commissions, offers the opportunity to develop outdoor infrastructure in the public domain for Dubai Design District.

2026 Theme

Titled 'Atmospheres', the theme considers how spaces are felt before they are consciously understood. Light, temperature, sound, material and spatial sequence shape our experience of a place, influencing how we feel, move, gather and relate to one another. The theme looks beyond architecture as physical form to consider the emotional and sensory dimensions of the spaces we inhabit.

2026 Winner

This year’s winning proposal, Three Gardens and a Room, is by NAO Architects, a Dubai-based architecture practice founded by architect Reem Nassour. Established in 2023, the studio works across architecture, research and urban design, with a particular focus on the relationship between people, place and the narratives embedded within them. Nassour’s practice is informed by context, climate, materiality and the everyday rituals through which people inhabit and share space.

Three Gardens and a Room reimagines the garden as a series of interconnected spatial experiences, exploring four fundamental architectural conditions: the roof, mound, hearth, and enclosure. Arranged around a shared central space, the three gardens bring together foliage, colour, shade, thermal comfort, materiality and filtered light to create distinct environments that visitors move between and inhabit. The composition of the three gardens results in an enclosure in between – a room to gather, pause, observe and connect. Drawing on the garden as both an architectural and social space, the proposal explores how relatively simple elements – walls, thresholds, shade, vegetation and light – can shape different ways of gathering, pausing and experiencing place.

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2026 Jury

Bringing together expertise across architecture, urbanism, curation and cultural strategy, this year’s jury includes:

    • ARKAT is an urban planning and design practice co-founded by Dr. Ahmed Al Mulla and Fatma Al Khayat. Bringing together expertise in planning, architecture, design, and research, the practice develops strategic solutions that shape sustainable, climate-responsive, and culturally grounded urban environments. Drawing on experience across government, academia, and projects spanning the UAE, Hong Kong, London, and Zurich, ARKAT combines evidence-based thinking with local insight and a global perspective to address complex urban challenges. Through integrated planning, design, governance, and community engagement, the practice delivers place-based strategies that strengthen environmental resilience, celebrate cultural identity, and enhance the quality of urban life.

    • Dominique Petit-Frère is an architect, curator, and cultural strategist whose practice spans contemporary art, architecture, design, and material culture. As the founder and director of Limbo Museum in Accra, Ghana, she develops exhibitions, research initiatives, and public programs that explore the relationships between architecture, material culture, landscape, and cultural memory. Working across disciplines, her curatorial practice brings together artists, architects, designers, and makers to investigate new approaches to spatial practice, material knowledge, and the role of cultural institutions. In 2025, she curated the second edition of the AlUla Design Residency in Saudi Arabia, culminating in Material Witness, an exhibition exploring the intersections of material knowledge, landscape, and contemporary design. In 2026, she served on the master jury for the Dezeen Awards, contributing to one of the world's leading international awards programmes for architecture and design. Through her work, Dominique advances experimental curatorial models that foster critical dialogue across disciplines and geographies, shaping new perspectives on culture, the built environment, and the future of design.

    • Manijeh Verghese is the CEO of Open City, a charity whose mission is to make cities more open, accessible and equitable. She is also one of the Mayor of London’s Design Advocates, having recently been appointed for a second term, and an External Examiner for the M.Arch programme at The Bartlett, UCL. She is on the Board of Trustees for the Architecture Foundation and a member of the advisory board for The DisOrdinary Architecture Project. She was co-curator of The Garden of Privatised Delights – the 2021 British Pavilion at the 17th International Venice Architecture Biennale and was the interpretation specialist for the South Asia Gallery at the Manchester Museum in partnership with the British Museum that was co-curated by a collective of over 30 local experts. She was previously the Head of Public Engagement at the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture, where she also taught the design studio Diploma Unit 12.

    • Vanessa Norwood has shaped public and professional discourse on architecture through a series of critically acclaimed exhibitions. During her tenure as Creative Director of the Building Centre in London from 2018 to 2023, she transformed the organisation's reputation through a successful cultural strategy centered on sustainable materials, building upon her previous success as Head of Exhibitions at the Architectural Association from 2001 to 2017, where she established a globally recognised programme of major urban installations. Now operating as a consultant under the mantra "good things, with good people!" Vanessa collaborates with like-minded clients to amplify voices driving meaningful change. Her work spans helping small practices articulate their values-driven missions, supporting large organisations with global cultural projects, and using culture to create platforms for positive change, all rooted in the belief that the greatest environmental and social impacts are achieved through strong collaboration and connection.