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|b The United Arab Emirates is considered an eminent market in the gulf region in many areas including furniture and furniture design industry. This is evidentially true when considering the number of specialized international exhibitions locally held each year such as INDEX and INTERIORS UAE in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere across the country. Every year, these international exhibitions invite well known international experts in furniture and interior design of hotels, residences, and offices. They show classical, modern and postmodern styles inspired by the western styles, for example, the French styles such as Louis XV, Rococo or the English style such as Jacobean, Queen Anne, Robert Adam, and American styles of furniture design as well. The postmodern styles are always evident, however, most of which derives its origins from western heritage and styles and no local inspired designs can be found. Postmodernism trend gas been applied to a whole host of movements, in art, music and literature that reacted against "modernism," and are typically marked by revival of historical elements and techniques. Since 1949, the term Postmodernism has been used to describe dissatisfaction with modern styles especially in architecture and has led to the postmodern movement in architecture, interior design and furniture design. Postmodernism in architecture has been marked by, among others, the re-emergence of surface ornament, historical reference in decorative forms, and non-orthogonal angles and has been marked in furniture design by the revival of classical styles with a new reading of the details and use of colors and ornamentations. It has been observed, through a survey of vendors and manufacturers of furniture in the UAE, that no one is producing postmodern furniture derived from the local heritage of neither the UAE nor its cultural elements. Despite of the richness of the local culture and heritage and the wealth of vocabulary and details of architecture and interior design, no designer has yet examined that source to produce furniture designs. The local heritage architectural elements such as doors, arches, muqarnas, castles, barajils as well as the folklore elements such as local fashion, jewelry are among those neglected elements. The outcome of this research it to create postmodern furniture derived from the local Emirati heritage but with modern materials and manufacturing techniques. The aim of this study has been to disclose and identify elements of a local identity that can strongly characterize Emirati furniture, which should enable the local design to be internationally recognized.
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