Singapore Design Week (SDW) has returned for its 2024 edition from now till Oct 6. If you missed earlier events Design Futures Forum, FIND – Design Fair Asia and EMERGE @ FIND, there is still plenty to discover until this Sunday.
SDW 2024 promises more than 80 thought-provoking showcases, installations, talks and tours honouring the “People of Design” – which is this year’s theme.
Check out three separate districts – namely the areas of Bras Basah & Bugis, Marina Bay and Orchard – into design havens packed with experiences that celebrate visionary designers. Read on for a list of programme highlights at each of the vibrant neighbourhoods.
Bras Basah.Bugis: Celebrating mundanity
Designer, educator and curator Hans Tan leads a collective of curator-collaborators in commemorating the art of everyday life. There are 10 site-specific in all, each exploring a separate, beautifully mundane aspect of humanity.
Both EAT: Transformative Seeds and DESIGN are staged in the National Design Centre, the festival’s hub. The former explores humanity’s journey with agriculture – in particular, seeds – and the possibilities they unlock in terms of gastronomy, while the latter delves into technology, sustainability and culture.
Head across the road to the National Library Building for READ: BOOK?, which tackles our ever-evolving relationship with the humble book in a digital age; PLANT for a collection of futuristic planter designs; and DISPLAY, which examines boundary-pushing exhibition design.
The remainder of the installations are spread across the district in thematically appropriate locations. Think SLEEP at the Naumi Hotel, SHOP at Bugis + and Bugis Village shopping centres, and HEAL, COMMUTE and MAKE at 42 Waterloo, Bencoolen MRT station and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts respectively.
Marina Design District: Sustainability comes first
Singapore-based industrial designer Nathan Yong (who attained the President’s Design Award back in 2008) leads the charge with Neufolk: Bridging Tradition and Future in Design, with festivities concentrated around malls like Millenia Walk, Marina Square and Suntec City.
Beginning with Millenia Walk, the Neufolk Design Pavilion showcases recent developments in sustainable design with installations led by Arup, an international sustainable development consultancy, social enterprise group Ayer Ayer Project, homegrown mycotechnology company Bewilder, and plastic recycling firm Semula.
Meanwhile, Marina Square and Suntec City are featuring a sextet of tie-ups between local design studios and retail brands like House of Socks, Kiddy Palace and Aftershock PC with the goal of reimagining shopping experiences for an alternate world. There’ll be plenty of incentives to go from venue to venue, as both South Beach Avenue and the link-bridge between Marina Square and Millenia Walk will also house interactive installations.
In celebration of SDW 2024, Marina Central will be playing host to the Friday Late event on Oct 4 with a host of live performances and fringe activities – think digital painting, blackout poetry and a mass chess meet – at the aforementioned malls.
Orchard: Shopping meets design
Design agency Plus Collaboratives takes over Singapore’s premier shopping destination with Re-Route: Orchard, aptly themed “Be Here Now” as a nod to its exploration of the emotional interplay between place and space at Orchard.
In one turn, nostalgic shopping destination Far East Plaza retreads its roots as a hip hangout in the 1980s with a vibrant playground installation in its main atrium; while in another, Cineleisure goes on a journey of self-discovery with Adaptations: Design in Motion, a design showcase exploring the extraordinary in the ordinary objects at the mall (read our full coverage here).
These three core activity hubs are joined by design community programmes across the island, including interactive workshops at the island’s newly refurbished creative cluster, New Bahru; hands-on sessions at Lego’s office; Future Impact 2: Homecoming Showcase at Asian Civilisations Museum featuring cutting-edge works by seven designers; and more.
To make travel between all three districts easier, festivalgoers can hop on free shuttle buses on a loop between the National Design Centre, Marina Square and Design Orchard from Oct 4 to 6, or a Grab promo code if you are booking a ride to the National Design Centre.
For the detailed line-up of programmes and locations, visit sdw.designsingapore.org.
