What makes the design scene in your city unique?
The design scene in Baghdad is defined by a unique balance between deep historical roots and contemporary reality. The city was officially founded in 762 AD by the Abbasid Caliph Abu Jaafar Al-Mansour and was originally designed as a circular city known as “The Round City,” reflecting an advanced urban planning vision for its time.
Over centuries, this layered cultural heritage has shaped a rich and distinctive visual identity. It is evident in the traditional use of yellow brick, in Arabic calligraphy and in Islamic ornamentation across mosques and historic structures where function and aesthetics are closely intertwined in shaping the city’s visual culture.
The Tigris River plays a central role in this identity. Beyond its geographic presence, it acts as a visual and structural axis that gives the city a rhythmic balance between movement and stillness.
This ongoing dialogue between past and present, between permanence and transformation, gives Baghdad’s design scene its distinctive character and places designers within a context filled with meaning, symbolism and cultural continuity.
Is there a place or landmark in your city that inspires you as a designer?
Visual inspiration in Baghdad emerges from the contrast between its urban energy and its natural calm. Along the banks of the Tigris, one finds a sense of clarity, balance and visual stillness.
In contrast, the city’s streets reflect the dynamism of contemporary life through movement, density and everyday detail. This duality is especially visible in areas such as Al-Mutanabbi Street and Al-Rasheed Street, two of Baghdad’s most significant cultural and historical centers. Both have preserved their architectural authenticity while evolving through careful interventions that respect their heritage and cultural role.
On a personal level, Hassan Ajami Café and Al Shabandar Café are among my most inspiring spaces. They are not merely historic cafés they are living cultural environments where memory meets the present, and where the city's daily narratives unfold. Each space carries a unique atmosphere: Hassan Ajami with its quiet intellectual character and Al-Shabandar with its vibrant social energy, deeply rooted in Baghdad’s literary heritage.
What does your city need to better support designers and attract creative talent?
Despite the richness of Baghdad’s visual culture, the city still requires a stronger creative infrastructure to support designers and bring them together within a unified professional ecosystem.
This includes the need for dedicated design hubs and co-working spaces that enable collaboration, knowledge exchange and project development. It also requires more active and structured creative communities, as current initiatives remain limited and fragmented.
Another key need is a professional design organization similar to the RGD in Canada, one that can support designers through portfolio reviews, industry events, professional networks, job opportunities and continuous education aligned with global standards.
Such an ecosystem would help organize the creative sector, elevate professional standards and shift designers from working individually toward being part of a connected and competitive creative community. This, in turn, will strengthen the quality of visual production and position Baghdad more prominently on the global design map.
Baghdad is a city still rediscovering itself visually. Despite its challenges, its design scene today is one of the most vibrant in the region driven by designers who are actively redefining the visual identity of an ancient city through a contemporary, globally connected perspective.
Abbas Albadri RGD
Sketch iraq
