Aseel Alamoudi and Altin Studio Win Big at 2026 IMA Design Prize

PARIS / RIYADH — In a major milestone for the region’s expanding contemporary design scene, Saudi talent captured top honors at the 2026 Arab World Institute (IMA) Design Prize. Celebrated annually in Paris, the prestige awards highlight extraordinary creative vision, material innovation, and narrative storytelling across the Arab world and its diaspora.

This year’s awards placed a bright spotlight on AlUla, Saudi Arabia’s ancient desert oasis, as both a canvas and a muse for modern craftsmanship.

Emerging Talent Award: Aseel Alamoudi’s Playformation: The Curve & The Dot

Saudi designer Aseel Alamoudi was awarded the Emerging Talent Award for her 2025 installation, Playformation: The Curve & The Dot, created during the AlUla Design Residency 2025. Inspired by the natural seams and fluid curves carved into AlUla’s rock formations, the project translates ancient desert geology into soft, brightly colored seating pieces.

Featuring two main forms, a bench (The Curve) and a stool (The Dot), the artwork bridges the gap between functional rest and interactive play. With its abstract shapes and tactile surfaces, Playformation offers visitors an inviting, open-ended way to sit, interact, and connect with the surrounding landscape.

Contemporary Crafts Award: Altin Studio’s Our AlUla Trilogy

The Contemporary Crafts Award was presented to Altin Studio, founded by the creative duo Yasmine Sfar Kebaier and Mehdi Kebaier, for their sculptural work Our AlUla Trilogy (2025).

Conceived during their time in the AlUla Design Residency as "three fragments of the same experience," the artwork reflects the emotional and spatial resonance of the designers' stay in the region. Connecting craft heritage between Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, the three-part series (Wadi, Waha, and Yusr) is constructed entirely from elements of the date palm tree, including palm wood, fibers, and fronds. The work pays homage to regional craftsmanship and the shared agricultural lineage of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

A Golden Era for Saudi Design

The recognition at the Arab World Institute highlights the global impact of Saudi Arabia's cultural renaissance. As initiatives across the Kingdom continue to empower local creatives and foster international partnerships, designers like Alamoudi and the team at Altin Studio are establishing Saudi design as an influential force on the global stage.

2026 IMA Design Prize Winners at a Glance

Inside the 2026 IMA Design Prize in Paris

The Institut du monde arabe Design Prize was launched in 2023 as a platform dedicated to design from the Arab world. The award recognises both emerging and established practitioners working across design, architecture and contemporary craftsmanship, with particular attention to materials, production methods, cultural knowledge and new approaches to making.

Its fourth edition took place in Paris during Paris Design Week, bringing finalist projects into the Institut du monde arabe, one of the city's major institutions dedicated to the cultures of the Arab world. The accompanying 2026 Design Prize exhibition was presented from September 10 to 20 at the Institut du monde arabe's Donors' Space, gathering the shortlisted projects across five main competition categories. The programme positioned contemporary Arab design within the wider calendar of Paris Design Week while giving designers from across the region an international platform.

AlUla also had a visible institutional presence within this edition. The Institut du monde arabe listed both the French Agency for AlUla Development and Design Space AlUla among the supporters of the prize.

Explore more stories from Saudi Arabia’s art, design and cultural scene at KSAArt.