Singapore Design Week returns after a two-year hiatus with a brand new look and will run from 16 to 25 September.

For all the things we have to say about our sunny island’s small size, we have to give it to this feat that Singapore is the sandbox for innovative design it is today, one of the 40 UNESCO Creative Cities of Design. Smart solutions that span the fields of healthcare, housing, education and transportation were borne out of a need to overcome physical limitations, and thankfully this bring-it-on sentiment echoes resonantly throughout Singapore’s designed past, present and future.

After a two-year hiatus from the pandemic, Singapore’s week-long flagship design extravaganza, Singapore Design Week (SDW) returns, curating a brand new festival experience made to better showcase the rich complexity of the world of design on our shores and beyond.

Taking place from 16 to 25 September 2022, the festival will be defined by and centred around three new pillars: Design Futures, an exploration of the design of the future and the future of design through Singapore’s lens; Design Marketplace, a display of lifestyle trends around the world and specifically in the Southeast Asian region; Design Impact, presenting innovative real-life solutions that address today’s most critical issues, from waste and sustainability to mental health and our ageing society.

If you are a seasoned attendee, you’ll know to expect the unexpected and to keep your eyes peeled for all the sensory details that make these design pieces so brilliant.

Otherwise, see below for a rough guide of the key events that we think you should check out.

Image generated by AI-powered platform WOMBO Dream.

Design Futures Symposium*
Developed by Curatorial Director Paola Antonelli, the Design Futures Symposium 2022 assembles a host of distinguished designers and thinkers from Singapore and around the world to address issues such as design approaches to complexity, systems, and prototypes; the imperative of regenerative design; designing for local and global challenges such as ageing populations and dense, low-carbon cities; how design can optimise human experience within the rest of nature; and how design can harness technology to build a better and more inclusive future.

N*thing is Possible by Potato Head, OMA and friends
N*thing is Possible is a regenerative design showcase that celebrates re-use, re-cycle, re-craft and re-live, taking over the entirety of the National Design Centre (NDC). The showcase will also tell the story of how, with the help of internationally acclaimed talent, Ronald Akili’s Potato Head Beach Club became a creative, sustainable place that shape-shifts waste into beautiful objects and art.

Expect experiences that span across design, art, architecture, music, food and fashion in a space co-curated by Potato Head and OMA or David Gianotten, which includes creations by the design luminaries Kengo Kuma, Futura, Max Lamb, Toogood Design, Eco Mantra and Thibaut Grevet.

President*s Design Award Tours
The President*s Design Award Tours is a new signature P*DA series that brings projects awarded Singapore’s highest honour for designers and design projects to the attention of a more general and wider audience.

Centred around architecture and place-making projects, two special P*DA Tours titled ‘Design that Cares’ and ‘The Hunt for the Green Treasure’ are curated to provide the public with opportunities to experience first-hand some of Singapore’s most outstanding and impactful designs through immersive tours and self-guided journeys.

Re-Route at Little India
Helmed by creative brains, Mervin Tan and Cheryl Sim from Plus Collaboratives, Re-Route is a creative placemaking festival that immerses visitors in alternate storytelling of the Little India district through a collective of creative voices, to demonstrate how design can be used as a tool to spotlight our heritage.

With curated experiences, installations, programmes, and other design interventions, it aims to encourage people to detour from their usual routes to explore the district with a new perspective and connect with Little India’s lesser-known history. The design intervention at each site below will pay homage to its own unique identity, heritage, and community.

#Fashtag
Internationally renowned homegrown fashion and creative director Daniel Boey is presenting #FashTag, as part of the third instalment of his brainchild of a virtual fashion festival, The Front Row. Happening at Raffles City Shopping Centre, the series of collaborative, cross-disciplinary physical and virtual events, and activations explores the possibilities for fashion in an increasingly decentralised and digital post-pandemic world.

It also celebrates sustainable, inclusive design, and champions the spirit of cross-border collaborations.

Future of Malls by Spatial Anatomy.

Good Design Research Pop-up Exhibition
This special pop-up exhibition at Singapore Design Week 2022 showcases how good design can add value to lives holistically, through Purpose – making an impactful difference to overall welfare, community integration and social inclusivity; Practice – constantly improving work processes and the environment; and Play – re-framing perspectives of life through the lens of creativity and imagination.

It will be accompanied by craft workshops, design thinking workshops, panel discussions, and talks where over 20 GDR recipients will share their work with the public, including GINLEE Studio, Werable by Claudia Poh, Roger&Sons, Offcut Factory and NOST.

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