Last weekend we hosted 30 of our readers in Abu Dhabi. The Monocle Weekender was perfectly timed to coincide with the opening of the new Natural History Museum, designed by Dutch firm Mecanoo. The museum is on Saadiyat Island, which is also home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Zayed National Museum (launching this week), TeamLab Phenomena (an immersive art experience that’s a lot more fun than it sounds, even if you have to take your socks off) and the Abrahamic Family House – a mosque, church and synagogue designed by David Adjaye. All of this has been created in a decade.

These cultural assets are all cheek by jowl, in a good way. One of the things that came up repeatedly on this trip was how you’ll soon be able to walk between the various sites – a shaded path is being created. The joy of meandering, of strolling, has often been forgotten in projects delivered across the region. In Dubai recently, I tried to amble with a colleague from our hotel to an appointment in a nearby bar but what should have been an easy skip ended up with us edging along a highway in the dark and sweating a lot before making it back to safety. Thankfully, the bits in between developments are now being delivered in more interesting ways here. This is important because it’s in these spaces, in pocket parks and at coffee stands, that community takes root and we make meaningful connections to place and other people.

The Monocle Weekender crew got to visit the Natural History Museum on the day that it opened to the public. Readers had come from the US, China, Romania, Belgium, Turkey, the UK and Dubai down the road. They were of all ages and were up for new experiences. It was amazing to see how they responded to the design of the museum and the way that it tells the story of evolution from the Big Bang to today. It turns out that we all rediscover our inner child when we come across vast dinosaur skeletons or are encouraged to touch a meteorite. Wonder is a rare emotion but we felt it in abundance as we walked through the museum’s white galleries and across its terrazzo floors, under the gaze of polar bears and models of whales.

Also running while we were in town was the Abu Dhabi Art fair, which becomes Frieze Abu Dhabi next year. Last Saturday we were given a tour of it before it opened for the day to the public. It was great – there were impeccable blue-chip galleries present but also a healthy number of exhibitors from the region. Everyone we spoke to said that it was the best iteration yet of the event, whose roots go back to 2007. Later in the week, at meetings in Dubai, people didn’t even try to conceal their jealousy at how nicely Abu Dhabi’s cultural push was coming together. “We need to step up our game,” was a common refrain.

Just before the Weekender kicked off, I visited another event, Nomad. This travelling design fair had taken over the decommissioned Terminal 1 at the old Zayed International Airport, a modernist landmark from the 1970s designed by architect Paul Andreu. There were two particularly impressive things about it. First, the work: we saw so many galleries and designers I’d never heard of from the Gulf, Istanbul and Beirut, alongside exhibitors from Milan and Paris. This made Nomad feel unique. Second, there was the use of the building. How great it was that this wasn’t in an exhibition centre, a white cube, but in a design gem. Reuse, repurpose: that’s the way ahead.

It was a packed weekend during which friendships were forged and great meals shared. But the aim of these Weekenders is also to give people – myself included – the chance to see a city afresh, meet the folk at the heart of the story and come home with some new perspectives. And we delivered on that.

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Textile brand Tekla has ventured beyond its Danish homeland and set up shop in London (writes Grace Charlton). The smart new outpost on Marylebone High Street – just a short saunter from The Monocle Café – presents the brand’s tactile offerings, from crisp cotton bed sheets to terry-towel bathrobes. “On the pragmatic, commercial side, London is an important market for us and has been for many years,” Tekla’s co-founder Kristoffer Juhl tells The Monocle Weekend Edition. “Then there’s the more inspiring side, which is the cultural importance of the city.”

For the interiors, Tekla tapped Copenhagen-based architecture firm Mentze Ottenstein, which has combined Danish aesthetic sensibilities with British craft. The result is a wood-panelled space with restored, herringbone oak parquet and pared-back storage systems inspired by Victorian cabinetry. “We sought inspiration from historic homes in England, in particular Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge,” says Alexander Vedel Ottenstein, a co-founder of Mentze Ottenstein. The shop also needed to provide a clean base to stage future releases. “Our main assignment was to make the products come to life. So we kept it simple. The space is essentially a blank canvas for the products.”
teklafabrics.com

The landscape of Dubai’s Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) has long been defined by lakeside joggers, neatly trimmed shrubs and an unusually high number of dogs with better grooming schedules than most humans (writes Inzamam Rashid). Now the neighbourhood is upping the stakes by appointing its first chief dog officer – because nothing says urban sophistication like a democratically elected spaniel. 

In essence, the role is part civic ambassador, part influencer and part hall monitor. Candidates must be welcoming to newcomers, behave politely in shared spaces and encourage the considerate use of common areas (which might involve gently shaming owners who pretend not to see the “Please clean up after your pet” signs). They’ll also be expected to promote JLT’s cafés and walking routes on social media – a task for which most local pups are overqualified, considering that half of them are trained to pose for a photo the moment an oat flat white is served to their owners.

The perks are plentiful: veterinary-clinic memberships, vouchers for treats and the honour of being arguably JLT’s most important public official. In a city with the world’s tallest building, a highly competitive brunch culture and air-conditioned bus stops, residents have become accustomed to having the best of everything. The chief dog officer will be expected, in its own way, to help keep the humans’ tails wagging – a big responsibility to place on the shoulders of a very good boy or girl.

Nominations close on 30 November. Expect, ahem, dogged competition.

UK brand James Purdey & Sons is starting a new chapter in its 200-year history. Now owned by Swiss luxury group Richemont, it has tapped London-based designer Giles Deacon as its new creative director.

His first full collection, which made its debut in autumn 2025, introduces the Tom Purdey House Tweed, inspired by the family’s chief salesman, who carried the Purdey name across the UK and US from the 1920s to the 1950s. The tweed uses 21 yarns and 16 twists to capture the colours of the Highlands. “We want to make timeless, elegant countrywear – clothes that you’ll wear for life,” says Deacon. 
purdey.com

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It’s 23.00 and, inside a radio control room in Shibuya, a studio engineer is preparing to take one of Japan’s most popular late-night shows on the air (writes Ryuma Takahashi). A cornerstone of the country’s media, it runs into the early hours of the morning, bringing listeners along on a six-hour odyssey. Pushing the faders up, the studio manager engages the mics: this is Radio Shinyabin (“Midnight Mail”).