chinara darwish turns marine waste into table at dubai design week

sustainable creations at Downtown Design

At Downtown Design during Dubai Design Week 2023, Tashkeel’s Tanween program, rooted in the United Arab Emirates, presented four sustainable creations. From November 8-11, these designs took the spotlight, showcasing eco-conscious furniture and lighting crafted by innovative minds like Marwa Abdelrahim, Wafa Al Falahi, Chinara Darwish, and the collaborative duo Maryam Elattar and Mohamed Elnaggar. Among these presentations was Chinara Darwish’s creation, The Alchemy Series, a dining table that ingeniously repurposes marine and construction waste, such as marine marker buoys, dredging floats, road barriers, and water tanks. Darwish’s emphasis on sustainability and the utilization of reclaimed materials aligns with this year’s theme of responsible design, which saw diverse innovative expressions of biomaterial installations.

all images ©Chinara Darwish, unless stated otherwise

Turning discarded waste into luxurious furniture

Crafted as an eight-seater dining table using 193 kg of LDPE plastic waste, this design prioritizes sustainability. Employing a circular design process, the focus is on minimizing waste and confronting the real issues arising from plastic consumption. Darwish Chinara (see more here) follows a process that harmonizes artistic creativity with scientific precision. She begins by collecting plastic waste and understanding its origins thoroughly. Subsequently, she engages in a method where she experiments with colors, shredding, and heating plastic to create a distinctive color palette. Her method embodies a blend of experimentation and skilled craftsmanship, where she transforms raw materials into furniture pieces. Chinara highlights the challenges she faced to infuse recycled materials with an essence of luxury. ‘My biggest challenge was to make plastic look luxurious’ she explained. Through her work, Darwish communicates a powerful message of environmental consciousness while crafting a piece that celebrates the values of hospitality and family.

the dining table celebrates hospitality and family

Celebrating a Decade of UAE’s Creative and Sustainable Design

Lisa Ball-Lechgar, Deputy Director at Tashkeel, reflected on Tanween’s influence, stating, ‘With a decade of learning and a diverse collection available to collectors, our program has cultivated original, sustainable pieces, showcasing our creativity and local production capabilities here in the UAE.’ Tanween’s impact extends beyond design, supporting the UAE design community through the profits of The Tanween Collection sales, benefiting both past and future Tanween Design Programme participants. Since its 2020 edition, Tanween has prioritized sustainability, illustrated by works from various designers such as Reema Al Mheiri, Huda Al Aithan, Sara Abu Farha & Khaled Shalkha, Nuhayr Zein, Khawla Al Balooshi, and Lina Ghalib. These designs employ eco-conscious materials like datecrete, leukeather, plypalm, fishscale molds, and ghaf wood, sourced from the UAE’s environment in collaboration with local scientists and fabricators. Through its decade-long journey, Tashkeel’s Tanween programme showcases the UAE’s dedication to fostering creativity, sustainability, and innovation in the realm of design.

activating a tactile experience for the user