Aidan Imanova
Features Director
Aidan Imanova is a writer and editor who has been covering design, architecture and culture for over a decade, primarily focusing on the Middle East and Africa. Born in Azerbaijan and raised in Dubai, Aidan has previously held the editorship of numerous regional design titles, and is strongly focused on championing young talent as well as socially-conscious architecture and design.
Architecture
Let Us Introduce You to Our New Issue Rooted in Creative Optimism
Inside the issue: stories of resilience, collaboration and regional creativity, alongside a serene Umm Al Quwain home by one of design's newest studios, and more
Art & Auctions
How Jongjin Park Won the 2026 Loewe Craft Prize With a Work That Was Meant to Collapse
The Korean artist’s haunting ceramic work, shaped by heat, gravity and collapse, signals a bold new direction for contemporary craft
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Home Tours
Inside Gallerist Leila Heller’s New York Apartment, Where a Global Art Empire Began With Her Mother’s Iranian Modernist Collection
Before the Guggenheim and global galleries, Leila Heller bought Middle Eastern art to New York
Architecture & Design
Let Us Introduce You to Our New Art Issue
Inside the issue: from deeply personal collector homes that read as living archives to the artists redefining the region’s visual language
Home Tours
Inside Legendary Artist Demas Nwoko’s Self-Built Home in Rural Nigeria
The son of the Obi (King) Nwoko II of Idumuje Ugboko, 90-year-old Demas Nwoko invites AD into his home inspired by Benin’s palace architecture
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Interiors
Colour Drenching Meets Outsider Art in Abu Dhabi’s Most Joyful Home
Taking vibrant hues to the max, this collectors' home refuses to play it safe
Architecture
Aidan Imanova Takes Us Inside the Culture Issue
AD Middle East's head of editorial content spotlights the trailblazers, creatives and the most colourful highlights for Feb/Mar 2026
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Home Tours
How This 1962 Tunisia Villa Was Redesigned As a Playful Mediterranean Retreat
Art takes pride of place in the home, much of it collected since 2011, when Atallah returned to Tunis
Style
The AD Carat Issue Is Here: The Very Best of High Jewellery, Watches and Handcraft for 25/26
From high jewellery houses to independent voices, this is our editor's pick of the most exceptional collections and craftsmanship shaping the season
Art & Auctions
Bvlgari Shows Its Most Colourful Collection Ever in Tokyo Inspired By Elizabeth Taylor
Rome meets Tokyo, Bvlgari Kaleidos reworks a century of jewellery using symbolic stones that unite multiple eras
AD100
AD100 2026: The Best Designers in the Middle East and North Africa
Unveiling the AD100 2026. Spanning cities across the region, these 100 creatives capture the breadth of design talent shaping architecture, interiors, product innovation and sustainability in the world today
AD100
AD100 2026: Made in the Middle East
Grounded in regional craft and expressed through a modern lens, these material-driven AD100 Middle Eastern brands make a strong case for adding to your wish list
AD100
The AD100 Hall of Fame 2026 Inductees
Celebrating the designers whose enduring influence continues to shape the region’s creative landscape
AD100
AD100 2026: The Debuts
Appearing on the AD100 for the first time, these names reflect the range and richness of design shaping the region today
AD100
AD100 2026: Women Architects in the Middle East You Need To Know
These architects continue to shape the region through work that is thoughtful, rigorous and deeply connected to place
Architecture & Design
The New Issue Has Arrived: A Showcase of the Middle Eastern Visionaries Shaping Design Now
Head of Editorial Content Aidan Imanova breaks down what’s inside. From headline AD100 projects to the season’s most dazzling AD Carat picks
Innovative Design
New Arab Voices 2025: The Makers Shaping a New Design Frontier
AD spotlights nine rising voices whose work fuses craft, memory, and material innovation to reimagine what designing from – and for – the Arab world means today
Architecture & Design
Origami Design Meets Innovation in FoldLab by Sudanese Architect Hadeel Subahi
The Dubai-based designer's first lighting piece merges Brutalist origami design with traditional Bedouin weaving
Architecture & Design
Let Us Introduce You to Arab Design's Next Wave in Our Latest Issue
From emerging talents to boundary-breaking artists, this issue champions a generation designing by their own rules
Home Tours
Roham Shamekh's Futuristic Home Is a Portal Between Art, Architecture and Spirit
In a quiet corner of Dubai, the multidisciplinary artist has transformed a modest villa into a metaphysical sanctuary where craft, technology and consciousness converge to form a vision of the future