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ArtSaudi Arabia

by Alexandra Mansilla

Parisian Café Chair, Clouds To Sit On, Water Memories: Downtown Design Riyadh

21 May 2025

Downtown Design Riyadh has officially kicked off — and what makes it truly special is that it is the very first edition of the fair in Saudi Arabia. Running in JAX District from May 20 to 23, it brings together exhibitors from all over the world, including names like Huda Lighting, Saint Louis, Natuzzi, Scarlet Splendour, Visionnaire, and more.
Downtown Design feels like a city within the city — a layered walk through installations, ideas, and atmospheres that shift from poetic to playful in just a few steps. Get ready to see stunning examples of craftsmanship and how artists and designers transform materials into something unforgettable.
So here comes the big question on everyone’s mind: What should you be paying attention to?
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Scarlet Splendour

Wolk Chair and Wolk Table

Let’s start with clouds. Right on the floor — in the form of the Wolk Chair, a brass piece born from a collaboration between Scarlet Splendour and Richard Hutten.
It turns out this design came from Richard Hutten’s childhood memories: “As a child, I was always playing outside — and of course, you end up looking at the sky. I was fascinated by the clouds and would try to see animals or faces in their shapes. They looked so soft, so comfortable, and always beautiful. It was much later that I found out those very same Dutch clouds had inspired famous 17th-century painters like Rembrandt and Vermeer. In that Dutch tradition, I designed the Wolk chair — named after the Dutch word for 'cloud.' When you see it, you want to sit on it, just like I wanted to sit on the clouds when I was a child.”
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Wolk Chair

Every Wolk Chair takes hundreds of hours to create, and no two are ever the same. It is a labour of love and individuality.
As Richard Hutten explains: “We live in a world dominated by industrial mass-produced items with hardly a soul. They are replaceable by any other product from the same production line. That is the opposite of a handcrafted product. Although the starting point for the production of a chair is always the same — my design — in the result, you see small changes due to the nature of the making and the hands of the craftsmen. That gives a product a soul. The love and passion put into the product make it shine. I cannot explain every step of the making process, since I don’t want to make the copycats any wiser, but when you build a chair like this from scratch, it’s very complicated. You have to make each bubble by hand, then these bubbles are put together, and then you have to polish them until they shine. The whole process is very rewarding; the result is pure magic.”
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Wolk Table

Splash

What does it look like? Literally like a splash of water. It is made of glass, and it looks exactly like when you throw something in transparent water, and then you see a splash. Splash is a centrepiece of “Made of Sand” — an exhibition curated by Lasvit. The goal is to celebrate the elemental beauty of the Saudi landscape and explore how glassmaking, like the desert itself, is shaped by the forces of nature. Created by Lasvit designer Martin Gallo, the piece is frozen in motion. It captures the energy of water and shows how a single drop can ripple into something vast.
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Splash

For Gallo, the inspiration behind Splash lies not only in form but in the emotional resonance of water itself. Water's ability to shift shape and stir feelings became a poetic foundation for the piece: "When I think about it, it's really interesting how easily water can change its form. Other materials hold their shape, but water is constantly shifting. It can be the calm surface of a lake, a massive waterfall, a solitary drop, or a splash. Because water is omnipresent, it naturally evokes emotions in people. Each form awakens a different feeling in us, and that fascinates me."
But beyond concept, Splash is also a triumph of craftsmanship and patience. Gallo speaks candidly about the challenges of bringing such a complex vision to life, from the slow pace of product development to the technical hurdles of working with glass.
Martin Gallo: “I’ve been working on Splash for several years now, but you know how it goes in our industry — products sometimes develop over a long period. They need to mature a bit and prove their qualities on the market. When they succeed, they get a chance to shine, like here in Riyadh.
A big challenge is always to come up with something new and discover new processes. For example, here we managed to cut the glass with a water jet and then shape it in the furnace on special moulds into these semi-random organic forms.
The suspension is a discipline in itself. The basis is to have a good 3D model, from which a detailed suspension manual is then created. Each piece of glass hangs on three wires and has its specific position. And then we assemble it almost like a puzzle.
To create the illusion of a unified, flowing whole, it is important for the components to overlap — and this makes the installation process a bit more demanding than usual. But I must humbly say that even our guys who install Splash have fortunately confirmed that the effort is worth it in this case.”

ENLACE

The iconic Paris café chair — you will recognise it anywhere. One look, and suddenly you are transported to a corner in Montmartre, with music in the air, a breeze stirring the wicker, and the unmistakable charm of French street life.
The collection shown at Downtown Design Riyadh is called ENLACE, designed by Aranda\Lasch in collaboration with Maison Drucker and Trame. The name itself carries meaning: in English, enlace suggests intertwining of materials, ideas, and cultures. In French, it means “to hold” or “to embrace,” adding a quiet intimacy to the project. And at the heart of it all? The café chair. Familiar, humble, social — and now reimagined.
As the designers explain, the idea started with a question: how can digital tools speak the language of legacy craft, not as a concept, but as a chair you can actually sit on?
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ENLACE

“ENLACE really began with a shared curiosity: how could generative design speak to legacy craftsmanship, not in a theoretical way, but through something tangible, everyday, and culturally resonant? The Parisian bistro chair felt like the perfect starting point. It’s instantly recognisable, but it also has this deep, material intelligence embedded in it — woven by hand, built to last.
Maison Louis Drucker has been making these chairs since 1885, and their workshops are incredible — they’ve maintained the same methods for over a century. For us, collaborating with them offered a way to ground computational design in something tactile and timeless.
We partnered with Aranda\Lasch to develop a custom algorithm that could generate weaving patterns specifically for this craft. Their architectural approach to form and geometry brought a completely new perspective to the woven surface. Together, we wanted to show that digital can live inside the DNA of heritage craft. ENLACE is about making that dialogue visible.”
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ENLACE

So, what will you actually see in the space?
This part of the project focuses on showing not just the product, but the process. Visitors will be able to explore a curated selection of ENLACE chairs — all based on the same iconic silhouette, but each with its own unique pattern. It is a quiet rebellion against mass production: no two chairs are alike.
“The booth will showcase a curated selection of ENLACE chairs that highlight the breadth of what’s possible when generative design meets traditional craftsmanship. You’ll see a variety of silhouettes — from the iconic bistro armchair to more ornate forms — all featuring distinct weaving patterns to show what’s possible with the algorithm. With this process, no two chairs are exactly alike; each one represents a different set of parameters, translated from digital code into physical rattan. Drag Alongside the physical chairs, the booth will feature a live version of the generative application itself, so visitors can see how the patterns are created in real time. It’s a space where design becomes visible — as much about the process as the finished product.”
And even with all that, it is still only part of the picture.
From Cosentino’s sculptural Moon Vignettes by Babnimnim Design Studio to Natuzzi Italia’s debut of Amama, a modular sofa created with Andrea Steidl, the fair offers a rich mix of ideas and expressions. Jotun dives into immersive colour storytelling, while Klekktik and Assembly merge contemporary design with collectable vintage flair.
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Jaipur Rugs

Grey Garden Plant Studio makes its debut with raw, handmade pieces; Jaipur Rugs and Saint Louis showcase artist-led collections; and standout names like Visionnaire, Iwan Maktabi, and Venini bring global craftsmanship to the forefront.
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Iwan Maktabi

Saudi-based designers such as Hobal, Lucas Barcelo, and NWII.III highlight the strength of the local scene, while the Designed in Saudi initiative reflects the country’s evolving design ecosystem. Meanwhile, the collectable design section brings together top names like Christophe Delcourt, Apparatus Studio, Sabine Marcelis, and Helen Chislett Gallery.
But even this is just a glimpse. Downtown Design Riyadh unfolds like a living archive — layered, unexpected, and full of discoveries at every turn.