Human intelligence, inherited knowledge and the ability to translate both into contemporary design are becoming increasingly relevant to Qatar’s move towards a knowledge-based economy, according to Design Doha director Fahad al-Obaidly.
Speaking on Saturday during the Evolution Nation Voices podcast, al-Obaidly said that design can give human knowledge a practical form through objects, strategies, planning and the way people live, while also carrying knowledge from one generation to the next.
“Qatar has tried to move towards a knowledge-based economy,” he said. “And what that means is human intelligence and how it manifests itself in objects, in strategies, in planning, and in the way you would like to live and continue and inspire the next generation.”
Al-Obadily pointed to Qatar National Vision 2030, which places Human Development among its four pillars and highlights education, skills, workforce development, research and innovation as key areas of national development.
The live session, titled “The Evolution of Design Culture in the Region”, was held at M7 in Msheireb Downtown Doha, in partnership with Qatar Creates and afikra, ahead of the second edition of the Design Doha Biennial in November.
Design Doha was established under the leadership of Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums.
The 2026 edition is led by al-Obaidly, with Glenn Adamson serving as artistic director.
Al-Obaidly said that Design Doha responds to Qatar’s wider shift towards a knowledge-based economy by creating a platform where ancestral knowledge and methods of making can move into contemporary fields including architecture, furniture, product design, interiors and urban planning.
“Design is a platform to communicate and articulate about the ancestral knowledge, in terms of the making, where we came from and then how it manifested itself in urban planning, architecture, furniture design, product design, interior design,” he said.
For al-Obaidly, retaining the knowledge behind traditional methods of making while translating it into different media is closely linked to identity.
“You still have that capability of making, but you manifest it or you translate it to different mediums,” he said.
He also cited the way designers across the region increasingly draw from the places where they live, from local materials and agriculture to domestic practices passed down through families.
“I think for us in the region, it’s necessary,” he said, adding that objects can carry memories, emotion and knowledge as well as practical function.
That approach will be visible across Design Doha 2026, where materials and the knowledge embedded within them will feature strongly.
“You will see in every exhibition the local materials and the intelligence of those materials translated to the objects you are going to see in our biennial,” al-Obaidly said.
Design Doha Biennial 2026 will open on November 5, with its opening programme running on November 5-7.
Exhibitions will remain on view until January 31, 2027, with the programme centred in Fereej Al Asmakh.
The second edition will feature exhibitions, public design commissions, talks, workshops and programmes connecting designers from the Southwest Asia and North Africa region with wider international audiences.
More than 15 exhibitions are planned, led by Arab Design Now, curated by Noura al-Sayeh.
The headline exhibition will feature 81 designers, 78 new commissions and 16 films, with particular attention given to the environments, processes and makers behind the final works.
Al-Obaidly said that the Biennial format was chosen to give designers and curators time to research and develop their ideas rather than concentrating only on the finished object.
“We wanted to let the designers take their time and really think about the process of making,” he said.
That process, he added, involves asking where materials come from, how an object is produced, who makes it and whether the knowledge behind it comes from artisanal and ancestral practices or newer technologies.
The approach builds on Design Doha’s inaugural edition in 2024.
Al-Obaidly said the first Biennial attracted more than 141,000 visitors over three months, many of them architects, collectors, journalists and others working within the design sector.
“It was an eye-opening of what the region has to offer,” he said. “It’s a discovery of the potential where we’re heading.”
