In my second year of studying Mass Communication, I recalled learning about American researcher Don Norman’s design principles from his book “The Design of Everyday Things”. In the book, one quote struck a chord with me, highlighting a fundamental truth I hadn’t fully appreciated before: “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible.”
From the smartphone in your hand to the chair you’re sitting on, design shapes and seamlessly blend into our daily experiences in ways we often take for granted. Today, there are many ways to appreciate design’s unseen excellence, and one way is through Singapore Design Week (SDW) 2024!
Spanning 11 days, Singapore Design Week invites you to pause and appreciate the ingenuity behind the objects and spaces that make our life experiences. For this year’s edition, the theme is “People of Design,” meaning it will bring to the forefront the everyday visionaries who shape our society through design!
From expanding the footprint of design districts to more lifestyle programmes featuring design, SDW 2024 returns bigger and better than ever! Read on to find out what you can expect throughout SDW 2024.
Refreshed Content aligned to Festival Pillars
A suite of engaging key programmes reflecting the festival’s three defining pillars—Design Futures, Design Marketplace, and Design Impact—hope to inspire, inform, and intrigue you at SDW 2024!
The pillar of Design Futures explores the future of design through Singapore’s forward perspective. Upholding this pillar is SDW’s flagship Design Futures Forum, which will return with an expanded format spanning two days.
During the forum, you’ll hear from the keynote speaker and “godmother of the metaverse”, Cathy Hackl, the CEO of Spatial Dynamics! Joining her are segment curators Singapore-based venture capitalist Debra Langley, general and artistic director of Het Nieuwe Instituut Aric Chen, and DesignSingapore Council (Dsg)’s Tamsin Greulich-Smith.
Together, these speakers will present insights from fellow thought leaders on the essential role of design in Emerging Technology, Sustainability, and Care. Through presentations, panel discussions, and interactive, hands-on sessions, you’ll be encouraged to enact change in your spheres of influence after examining how design and designers play a role in the face of technology’s rapid advancement!
As for Design Marketplace, this pillar unites lifestyle trends from across the globe with Southeast Asia’s design community! This will be done through the third edition of FIND – Design Fair Asia, Asia’s largest design trade fair at Marina Bay Sands from 26 to 28 September 2024!
Here at FIND – Design Fair Asia, EMERGE @ FIND, Dsg’s talent showcase, is dedicated to Southeast Asian contemporary design, and the theme of “These Precious Things” will be explored. Not only is the showcase curated by Suzy Annetta of Design Anthology, but over 50 rising and established designers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam will present new works that uncover the ideas of internal and external value.
This year’s showcase will also underscore recently graduated designers in a first through a new partnership with online art gallery The Artling. If the pieces on display have wowed you, you can also purchase the works shown by presenting designers!
Lastly, the Design Impact pillar aims to inspire with innovative and impactful design solutions that solve society’s greatest questions. One key event of this pillar is Future Impact 2: Homecoming Showcase!
The exhibition will debut at Milan Design Week 2024 with designers Christian+Jade, David Lee, Faezah Shaharuddin, Gabriel Tan, Genevieve Ang and Interactive Materials Lab, Tiffany Loy, and Zavier Wong. It will then return to Singapore for eight weeks at the Asian Civilisations Museum!
Expanded Footprint of Design Districts
After last year’s successful introduction, this year’s design districts will be expanded to include Bras Basah.Bugis, Orchard, and Marina. Under the festival’s theme, each district will feature special commissions, exhibitions, experiential activations, installations, workshops, and more that will reflect each district’s distinct charms!
Championing homegrown talent is one of Dsg’s ongoing missions, so the three districts will showcase creatives, communities, and partners collaborating to present Singapore’s distinct brand of creativity! Here’s what you can expect from each design district.
Bras Basah.Bugis Design District
At the Bras Basah.Bugis Design District, one collective will shake up the district with its creativity. This collective, led by internationally acclaimed designer, educator, and three-time recipient of the President*s Design Award, Hans Tan, comprises Singapore designers like Atelier HOKO, Forest & Whale, and gideon-jamie.
It is at Bras Basah.Bugis Design District that the People of Design Showcase Series, curated by Hans, will come to life commissioned designers and studios reimagine everyday activities through specially designed site-specific, experiential installations across many venues!
Among the experiential installations is one by Atelier Fang, a China-based food design studio that will examine food design through the lens of seeds at the National Design Centre. This installation is also accompanied by a not-to-be-missed dining experience, courtesy of Tipo Pasta Bar at Stamford Arts Centre!
Another exhibition you must check out is R for Repair, which will be restaged at a pre-war bungalow at 42 Waterloo Street! This exhibition showcases donated personal objects mended creatively by designers, and this new iteration focuses on the idea of mending the mind and spirit through collaboration with the healthcare network Yishun Health Singapore.
Marina Design District
Over at the Marina Design District, it’s been expanded to include Marina Central for the first time, as well as the iconic Marina Bay area.
Marina Design District will have a series of activations of its own. Entitled Neu Folk: Bridging Tradition and Future in Design, this series brings together the spirit of communities and the future-thinking vision of Singapore design.
Nathan Yong, founder of the eponymous disciplinary studio, will take on the curatorial duties of this series of activations. Some highlights of this series include the Design Pavilion at Millenia Walk which will be home to a curated exhibition, talks, retail experiences, and workshops focused on sustainability and innovation. Another set of activations is Mooncycle and Kinetics Energy Play.
Mooncycle merges play, education, and sustainable technology to form two large-scale public installations powered by kinetic energy, mainly Mooncycle and Kinetic Energy Play. As for Kinetics Energy Play, visitors can attempt to power up a series of human-sized wheels and watch movement turn to light.
Orchard Design District
Finally, at Orchard Design District, you can anticipate Re-Route: Orchard (RR:OR) in Orchard Road, curated by Singapore-based interdisciplinary group PLUS Collaboratives! Under the theme of “Be Here Now”, RR:OR will enhance the visitor experience of Orchard Road through the use of an investigative design lens.
This is exemplified by how RR:OR will showcase the role of design in adapting and transforming a place, celebrating design’s transformative capacity in influencing and shaping our sense of community, culture, and history.
And at Far East Plaza, a nostalgic playscape for the little ones awaits you! Responding to the theme of “Adaptive Reuse,” curated interventions and design installations like Offshoots Route, Orchard Road’s very own stamp rally, invite you to discover overlooked areas in this iconic street and delve into the district’s character evolution.
Additional Lifestyle Programmes featuring Design
Last but certainly not least, Dsg will present two Friday Late events with after-hours programming. On 27 September 2024, across the Bras Basah.Bugis Design District, you’ll be in for a treat!
Activations such as curator tours, interactive VR experiences, and experimental food explorations will occur at the National Design Centre, National Library Building, Bugis Town, Naumi Hotel, 42 Waterloo Street, and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.
Then, on 4 October 2024, Marina Central will kick off the festivities with an extravaganza of music, design, food, and craft at DISTRICT M, across four zones at Marina Square, Millenia Walk, South Beach and Suntec City.
Finally, SDW 2024 will also feature over 70 ground-up events found all around the island featuring the design community! These events include exhibitions, talks and panel discussions, workshops, tours, and retail pop-up exhibitions.
Singapore Design Week 2024 Details
As Singapore Design Week 2024 unfolds in September 2024, immerse yourself in the works of innovative designers shaping our world and future! Whether you’re a seasoned designer, an aspiring creator, or just a simple admirer of design, there’s something for everyone.
What are you waiting for? For more information, check out SDW’s official website! To keep up with the latest on SDW 2024, head over to SDW’s socials on Facebook and Instagram.
🗓️Date:
- 26 September to 6 October 2024 (SDW 2024)
- 1 to 2 October 2024 (Design Futures Forum)
- 26 September to 17 November 2024 (Future Impact 2: Homecoming Showcase)
📍Location:
- Bras Basah.Bugis Design District
- Marina Design District
- Orchard Design District
- Victoria Theatre and The Arts House (Design Futures Forum)
- Asian Civilisations Museum (Future Impact 2: Homecoming Showcase)
💲Price: Free
Visuals courtesy of Singapore Design Week 2024.
