Moutamarat to launch two major publications at International Design Forum 2007

The launch of the two publications will take place during a VIP reception to be held on Sunday, 27 May.

Organized by Moutamarat, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, the IDF will also see the launch of kSPACE: Sustainable Cities, an interactive platform for knowledge and innovation, and an IDF blog, set up by Marcus Fairs from dezeen.

Khalid Al Malik, CEO of Tatweer, said:

'The launch of With/Without and Al Manakh and the unveiling of kSPACE and the blog are part of Moutamarat's mission to develop knowledge platforms for the Arab world and to use technology and innovative knowledge tools. Through these products, we hope to contribute positively to the Arab world's knowledge base.'

The book launch will bring Moutamarat together with knowledge partners AMO, a Dutch-based research and design studio, and Bidoun.

With/Without, co-produced by Moutamarat and Bidoun, has been created as a platform for ideas and an open forum for exchange, dialogue, and opinion about art and culture in the Middle East. The publication encourages readers to take a fresh look at the Middle East and its people.

Al Manakh is a special publication edited by Volume, the internationally acclaimed magazine project by Rem Koolhaas' AMO and Columbia University, New York, and the Archis Foundation, Amsterdam. After its launch at the IDF, Al Manakh will be distributed worldwide. The publication tracks changes and offers blueprints for the Arab and global urban space.

kSPACE: Sustainable Cities, is a joint effort with Beehive Media, which uses the most advanced Web 2.0+ communications techniques-Google Earth™, community functions, rich media and user-generated content. kSPACE is expected to help widen public awareness and understanding of critical issues and to address some of the biggest challenges faced by the design community.

Bill Shander of Beehive Media said: 'Scores of new cities will be built in the next few decades in the Arab world and across the globe. Although we have the technologies to build these cities sustainably, we lack the global awareness and understanding which will create the groundswell of public opinion and the pressure required to turn these visions into reality. We believe kSPACE will be a critical component to achieve this.'

The dezeen blog provides regular updates on the Forum, with news on cultural developments in the Middle East. The blog, which can be accessed at http://www.moutamarat.com/idf/blog was officially launched during the Milan Furniture Fair on 19 April, and will continue right though the IDF, providing coverage of the event. In the run-up to the Forum, the blog features IDF news and regular reports on how design and architecture are transforming the Arab world.

The theme of the IDF is 'What's Your Design Challenge?' People from around the world and from various disciplines have been posting their challenges on the website www.whatsyourdesignchallenge.com in an effort to help Moutamarat and the IDF address key issues on the role design can play in today's world.

The challenges will be addressed at the Forum throughout the program, in plenary sessions and DesignLabs-workshops developed by Architects of Group Genius. The DesignLabs will bring together Design Advisory Board members, knowledge partners and other participants who will co-design solutions through greater use of design and creativity.

Moutamarat will be proposing its own challenges-an Arab creativity school, the Arab Association of Designers and the promotion of Dubai as a design capital-as outcomes of its International Design Initiative launched a year ago. These three challenges will be presented along with others in the DesignLabs, with the aim of driving debate and finding solutions to practical problems faced by the design community in the Arab world.