An architect, product designer, interior decorator and art director, Navone is one of Italy’s best-loved designers and is known for her quirky avant-garde, anti-design style.

Her work, like her life, is a combination of colour, texture and pattern and she has long been associated with following the stream of her own consciousness, meaning her products are bold, bright and innovative. She continues to work with international and Italian companies, for which she has won a series of awards, amongst them Osaka International Design Award, Elle Deco International Design Awards and has been inducted into Interior Design Magazine’s prestigious Hall of Fame.

For Dubai Design Week 2018, Navone has teamed up with Abet Laminati, a leading Italian decorative laminate company to create a kind of welcoming structure for all visitors. 'Gateway to Dubai Design Week' is a three-dimensional puzzle comprised of stacking boxes, which come together to create a giant gate – encouraging people to make a symbolic entry into design week. Navone has been collaborating with the company for more than 30 years.

Paola Navone will also be giving a talk, which will shed light on her various collaborations and her career trajectory; the 'antidesign’ movement with Ettore Sotsass Jr and Alessandro Mendini, and an opportunity to draw on her expertise from her various collaborations with the global brands such as Swarovski, Abet Laminati, Alessi, Cappellini, Roche Bobois and Armani Casa. This conversation will demonstrate how a design career evolves and alongside that trajectory, how a design ethos can change.

Find out more about the talk here.