Singapore Design Week (SDW) returns this year from 26 September to 6 October 2024 in an 11-day celebration of Singapore’s distinctive brand of design and creativity. Organized by DesignSingapore Council (DSG), the design festival, which debuted in 2005, is one of Asia’s premier design festivals that celebrates Singapore’s distinctive brand of creativity. It will traverse the city-state with a rich and thought-provoking program curated around this year’s theme, “People of Design.”
Singapore Design Week 2024 will celebrate the everyday visionaries who shape our society through design, united by their collective aspiration to enhance our life experience. “Singapore has a distinct vision and approach, driven by a desire to drive positive change worldwide through design. For this edition of Singapore Design Week, we will spotlight the innovators whose impactful ideas help us all live better. We invite all groups and communities to join us in Singapore and participate in a wide range of specially curated programs.
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Exhibition Playground of Possibilities, Singapore Design Week 2023
Through being at this year’s festival, we hope everyone will gain a deeper appreciation for the role of design and find inspiration to bring larger design outcomes to the fore”, says Jody Teo, Festival Director of SDW 2024.
Refreshed content aligned to festival pillars
A suite of engaging key programs reflects the festival’s three pillars: Design Futures, Design Marketplace, and Design Impact. DSG thus works closely with leading industry experts to inform, intrigue, and inspire all participants at this year’s SDW. Design Futures will explore the future of design through Singapore’s forward-looking lens, aiming to prototype a better future for us all. ‘Upholding this pillar’ is SDW’s flagship Design Futures Forum, which returns with an expanded format that spans two days.
Design Futures Forum at Singapore Design Week 2024
Keynote speaker and “godmother of the metaverse” Cathy Hackl (CEO, Spatial Dynamics) will join segment curators, Singapore-based venture capitalist Debra Langley(Venture Partner, LyraVentures), Aric Chen (General and Artistic Director, Het Nieuwe Instituut), and DesignSingaporeCouncil’s Tamsin Greulich-Smith (Director, School of X) to usher in insights from fellow thought leaders on design’s critical role in areas of Emerging Technology, Sustainability and Care. Through thought-provoking presentations, engaging panel discussions, and interactive hands-on sessions, the role of design and designers in the face of rapidly advancing technologies will be thoroughly examined, encouraging participants to enact change in their own spheres of influence after that. Design Marketplace will unite lifestyle trends from around the world with the fast-growing design community of the Southeast Asia region.
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FIND–Design Fair Asia, a design trade fair, presents its third edition at Marina Bay Sands on 26 to 28 September 2024.
EMERGE@FIND, DSG’s talent showcase dedicated to Southeast Asian contemporary design, curated by Suzy Annetta of Design Anthology, returns with the theme of ‘These Precious Things.’ Over 50 emerging and established designers from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam will present new works that explore internal and external value ideas. For 2024, the Southeast Asian showcase will emphasize recently graduated designers from the region; through a new partnership with online art gallery The Artling, works by presenting designers will also be available for purchase.
Design Impact will inspire innovative design solutions tackling society’s biggest questions
The Future Impact 2: Homecoming Showcase is a key event of this pillar. It debuted at Milan Design Week 2024, featuring seven designers: Christian+Jade, David Lee, Faezah Shaharuddin, Gabriel Tan, Genevieve Ang and Interactive Materials Lab, Tiffany Loy and Zavier Wong. The much-anticipated return to local shores will see the exhibition run for eight weeks at the Asian Civilisations Museum, where some designers will refresh their pieces for this particular return show.
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Future Impact at Milan Design Week 2023
The Design Districts at Singapore Design Week 2024
Following a successful introduction last year, this year’s design districts will span a more significant area within Singapore’s dynamic districts of Bras Basah.Bugis, Orchard, and Marina.
A collective, led by internationally acclaimed designer, educator, and three-time recipient of the President*s Design Award, Hans Tan, and comprising Singapore designers such as Atelier HOKO, Forest & Whale and gideon-jamie, will be shaking up Bras Basah.Bugis Design District, Singapore’s arts, heritage, and design precinct with their creativity. Tan’s curatorial vision for the People of Design Showcase Series will see commissioned designers and studios reimagine everyday activities – eating, sleeping, reading, commuting, and more – through a series of specially created site-specific, experiential installations shaped to offer fresh perspectives across multiple venues.
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Among these will be an installation envisioned by China-based food design studio, Atelier Fang, which examines food design through the lens of seeds at the festival hub National Design Centre, with an accompanying dining experience at TipoPasta Barat Stamford Arts Centre.
R for Repair
R for Repair will also return in a pre-war bungalow at 42 Waterloo Street. The exhibition, which showcases donated personal objects being mended creatively by designers, was first presented locally by DSG and Hans Tan in 2021, then at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in 2022. This new iteration, Repair+, focuses on mending the mind and spirit through donated objects collected in collaboration with the Yishun Health Singapore healthcare network.
Marina Design District at Singapore Design Week 2024
This year, the expanded Marina Design District will feature Marina Central for the first time, alongside the iconic Marina Bay area. Helming curatorial duties at Marina Central is Nathan Yong, founder of the eponymous multidisciplinary studio. As one of Singapore’s most recognized and awarded designers, Yong will present Neu Folk: Bridging Tradition and Future in Design. It’s a series of activations that merges communities’ collective spirit with the future-thinking vision of Singaporean design.
Key highlights include the Design Pavilion at Millenia Walk, which will house a curated exhibition, talks, retail experiences, and workshops on sustainability and innovation. Mooncycle is a pair of device-charging swings inspired by the concept of Moon Gates found in Chinese gardens, while Kinetics Energy Play invites visitors to power up a series of human-sized wheels and watch movement turn to light.
Design District: Orchard Road
Over at Orchard Road, visitors can look forward to Re-Route: Orchard (RR:OR), curated by the Singapore-based interdisciplinary group PLUS Collaboratives. Taking the theme of “Be HereNow,” it brings an investigative design lens to enhance the visitor experience of Singapore’s famed shopping belt.
With a forward-looking perspective, RR:OR showcases the role of design in the adaptation and transformation of place, celebrating its transformative capacity in influencing and shaping a sense of community, culture, and history. Through curated interventions and design installations such as Offshoots Route (Orchard Road’s very own stamp rally), a nostalgic playscape for little one sat Far East Plaza, and a collective design showcase in response to the theme of “Adaptive Reuse,” visitors are invited to discover spots along this iconic street that are sometimes overlooked, and delve into the continual evolution of the district’s character.
Why visit
Singapore is a vibrant Asian city and one of the most popular tourist destinations. Singapore Design Week is an opportunity to explore different city districts and see them in a new light, with unique displays and projects.
The city of Singapore invests heavily in design development, a driver for innovation and sustainability. Singapore Design Week, which has been going on for several years, is an opportunity to discover the young levers of local design and their creativity. Moreover, design trails help explore both new and regenerated neighborhoods with innovative urban renewal projects.
Singapore Design Week, September 26-October 6, 2024
For general public and professionals
Size: 3 design districts, 80 programs, over 120,000 visitors
Visit SingaporeDesignWeek for info