Singapore Design Week spotlights sustainable and social conscious design in 2023 edition

September 28, 2023

  • SDW 2023 spotlights the power of design to address urgent global issues and transform how we live on our fast-changing planet
  • Explore innovative design solutions from cooling building facades inspired by elephant skin, dementia-friendly wayfinding, to bioplastics made from potato skins and more
  • Design Districts span Marina Bay to Bras Basah.Bugis to take over the city-state

(Left to right: Seaweedworks x The Reykjavik EDITION at School of Tomorrow, installation at School of Tomorrow)

Singapore, 28 September 2023 – Singapore Design Week 2023 (SDW 2023) continues until 1st October with the theme ‘Better by Design’ and presents future-thinking ideas, prototypes, and concepts reflecting on issues from sustainability, climate change, inclusivity, social care and beyond. From special commissions by Singapore’s leading design curators to convening international expert voices with a global forum, SDW 2023 takes over the city-state to commemorate Singapore’s unique and innovative creativity.

Highlight Commissions by Singapore’s renowned designers at the Bras Basah.Bugis District

Singapore’s Bras Basah.Bugis District comes alive with three new special commissions focussed on three themes – innovative, sustainability and inclusivity. On display are new ideas, like dementia-friendly wayfinding, building facades inspired by elephant skin and termite mounds that can cool buildings in the face of rising temperatures, the new periodic table reimagined with 45 new materials including dog fur, and smart ceramic tableware to enhance everyday life.

School of Tomorrow at Selegie Arts Centre
​Curated by Pann Lim, Co-founder and Creative Director of Kinetic Singapore

School of Tomorrow at Selegie Arts Centre. Photo by Pretty Much Films.
School of Tomorrow at Selegie Arts Centre. Photo by Pretty Much Films.

Curated by Pann Lim of Kinetic Singapore, School of Tomorrow offers sustainability lessons with a twist. Drawing on the expertise of sustainability experts, School of Tomorrow spans three levels of Selegie Arts Centre, with each room acting as a subject classroom. Visitors will learn how to incorporate sustainability into their daily routines to design for a better future.

Explore the harmful chain effects of plastic on our bodies at Biology class, while getting a crash course on new alternatives like bio-plastics made from potato skins; study a reimagined periodic table which presents 45 new materials that will reshape the way we live at Chemistry class; or calculate your own carbon footprint and discover how to reduce it in Mathematics class. The canteen features an eye-opening menu of innovative food, tableware, and edible or sustainably sourced packaging.

Biology class examines the harmful chain effects of plastic on our bodies. Photo by Pretty Much Films.
Biology class examines the harmful chain effects of plastic on our bodies. Photo by Pretty Much Films.

Playground of Possibilities at National Design Centre
​Curated by Jackson Tan, Co-founder and Creative Director of BLACK

Playground of Possibilities at National Design Centre. Photo by Pretty Much Films.
Playground of Possibilities at National Design Centre. Photo by Pretty Much Films.

This showcase spotlights 12 design “stories of possibilities” from Singapore that tackle some of the most pressing challenges we face today with innovative solutions. Through the colourful array of experiential installations, visitors discover how the buildings of tomorrow can be naturally cool like the skin of an elephant; visit a mini public housing town designed to be dementia-friendly; or interact with AI-equipped Robots, or play in a kitchen with ‘smart’ ceramic tableware that responds to the human touch. There are endless possibilities to discover with the help of design in this unconventional sandbox.

‘Gifting, More Sustainably’ featuring HARI HARI by This Humid House. Photo by Pretty Much Films.
‘Gifting, More Sustainably’ featuring HARI HARI by This Humid House. Photo by Pretty Much Films.

FI&LD at LASALLE College of the Arts
​Curated by Ar. Ong Ker Shing and Dr Joshua Comaroff, Co-founders of Lekker Architects

FI&LD at LASALLE College for the Arts. Photo by Pretty Much Films.
FI&LD at LASALLE College for the Arts. Photo by Pretty Much Films.

A radical departure from traditional sports and games, FI&LD offers a new philosophy in inclusive design that is based upon play and improvisation. New concepts and initiatives, as well as prototypes of emerging objects and technologies come together to emphasise possible connections between inclusion, emotion, and technology through design.

Exhibition curators Ar. Ong Ker-Shing and Dr Joshua Comaroff from Lekker Architects will also unveil a new game where rules are constantly changing to adapt to a diversity of players. These rules work as principles for inclusive creative practice, and the players’ only goal in the game is to have a winning fun time.

Lekker Architects have also tapped on the younger generation for FI&LD. Collaborators include students from LASALLE College of the Arts, National University of Singapore’s Department of Architecture, and Yale-NUS College.

Care is one of the five areas of inclusivity showcased at FI&LD. Other areas include Emotions, Fun, Senses and Social. ​ Photo by Pretty Much Films.
Care is one of the five areas of inclusivity showcased at FI&LD. Other areas include Emotions, Fun, Senses and Social. ​ Photo by Pretty Much Films.

“Inclusive practice is not just ‘handicap ramps’ or accessibility infrastructures. Instead, it is a new way of thinking about the user of design, in all our human variety. Empathy for a diverse public will make better design, that brings more comfort and delight to us all. FI&LD shows how this can be done, through cutting-edge global work and ingenuity,” says Joshua Comaroff, co-curator of FI&LD.

Future Impact: Homecoming Showcase - curated by Tony Chambers and Maria Cristina Didero

Six of Singapore’s most progressive designers reveal their vision for a better tomorrow through the Future Impact – Homecoming Showcase. Curated by Tony Chambers and Maria Cristina Didero, it features the works of Tiffany Loy, Nathan Yong, Forest & Whale, Viewport Studio, Gabriel Tan and Studio Juju.

From furniture and textiles created by Artificial Intelligence, to graphic posters that examine our relationship with nature, these designers marry cutting-edge technologies and poetic storytelling to shape a brighter and more sustainable future for design and production.

Design District - Marina Bay District

Marina Bay Sands. Photo by Hu Chen
Marina Bay Sands. Photo by Hu Chen

At ArtScience Museum, visitors can join environmentalist, Cesar Jung-Harada, and urbanist, Sarah Mineko Ichioka, in Net Zero Is Not Enough to learn about using regenerative design to reinvent sea transport and explore new sources of power. The Ocean Imagineer’s Studio to see ArtScientist-in-Residence Jung-Harada’s prototypes come to life.

Further down at Gardens by the Bay, discover Reimagining Tomorrow: A LASALLE Product Design Showcase developed in partnership with Electrolux; which presents design solutions that rethink the way we live, consume and care for ourselves and others.

Design District - Orchard Road

Design Orchard. Photo by: Patrick Bingham-Hall
Design Orchard. Photo by: Patrick Bingham-Hall

Moving to the Orchard Road Design District, immerse yourself in Wunderground, a celebration of retail, art and design, gamified adventures, music and technology at the former Singapore Chinese Girls School at Emerald Hill

Down the road at Somerset, there is the Made with Passion collection at Design Orchard and Material Matters by Sony exhibition at the Sony Design Centre Asia. Over at Dhoby Ghaut, discover the 1KG Challenge which will display sustainable 3D-printed models from the 1KG no-waste public challenge in Singapore and Japan.

For a detailed line-up of events and activities during Singapore Design Week 2023, please refer to the Info Pack here.

Singapore Design Week 2023 - 21 September to 1 October 2023

sdw.sg #SDWSG23 #SingaporeDesignWeek

About Singapore Design Week

One of Asia’s premier design festivals, Singapore Design Week (SDW) celebrates Singapore’s distinctive brand of creativity, exploring design through three defining festival pillars: Design Futures (the design of the future and the future of design), Design Marketplace (lifestyle trends with a spotlight on Southeast Asia) and Design Impact (innovative solutions for a better world). Organised by DesignSingapore Council, SDW is a celebration of creativity and innovation, championing thought leadership and showcasing the best of design from Singapore and beyond.

sdw.sg

About the DesignSingapore Council

The DesignSingapore Council’s (Dsg's) vision is for Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city by design. As the national agency that promotes design, our mission is to develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design. Dsg is a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board.

designsingapore.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About DesignSingapore Council

The DesignSingapore Council was established in 2003 to help develop the nation’s design sector. This follows from the Singapore’s Economic Review Committee report, which identified the creative industry as one of the three new sectors (including education and healthcare) for economic growth. Developing the design sector can help to enhance Singapore’s value proposition; as well as contribute to the country’s economic growth and social progress.

The vision of the DesignSingapore Council is for Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city through design by 2025. As the national agency for design, the Council’s mission is to develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design. Our work focuses on three areas. First, we help organisations and enterprises use design as a strategy for business growth; and for excellent delivery of public services. Second, we nurture industry-ready talents skilled in design and innovation; and engender a design-minded workforce for the future economy. Third, we advance the Singapore brand through raising design appreciation on homeground; and making emotional connections with people across the world.

Singapore was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Design in December 2015. This designation supports the development of a creative culture and eco-system in Singapore that fully integrates design and creativity into everyday life. It is also an opportunity for Singapore to collaborate internationally with the cities of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN). The City of Design Office is sited within the DesignSingapore Council to coordinate and implement programmes that contributes towards the UCCN mission.