8 Exhibits, activities you shouldn’t miss at Singapore Design Week 2019
Now into its sixth edition, the Singapore Design Week (SDW) 2019 will run from 4 to 17 March 2019. The annual SDW brings together a collection of local and international design activities in Singapore. Organised by Dsg, the SDW is open to the design community, businesses, design students, public sector officers and the general public.
Here are eight exhibits and activities you should not miss.
1/ Brainstorm Design
SDW’s feature conference, Brainstorm Design, returns for the second time from 5 to 7 March with a new theme, “Vision, Empathy, and Scale”, which explores and amplifies ideas raised from the inaugural gathering in 2018. Brainstorm is led by the editorial teams of FORTUNE and Wallpaper*, and supported by Dsg and the Singapore Economic Development Board.
Delegates will hear from more than 40 speakers from some of the world’s most successful and influential corporations including: IDEO CEO and President Tim Brown; Amazon.com Vice President of Echo and Alexa Devices Miriam Daniel; Google Director of UX Design Kat Holmes; Miniwiz Founder and CEO Arthur Huang; IBM Vice President of Design Doug Powell; Dyson Chief Executive Officer James Rowan; and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Head of Digital, Commercial Real Estate, Commercial Banking Sam Yen.
2/ UNESCO Creative Cities of Design Public Forum
Another key highlight for SDW 2019 is the inaugural UNESCO Creative Cities of Design Public Forum: Designing for Impact, to be held on 8 March. This insightful event will feature representatives from the UNESCO Creative Cities of Design, including Singapore, sharing their efforts in designing for impact in education, public policy, business and communication.
Participants will gain insights from international design champions and understand how they are turning to design to add value and grow sustainably in an increasingly demanding, complex and fast-changing world.
3/ International Furniture Fair Singapore
SDW’s homegrown trade show, the International Furniture Fair Singapore (IFFS), will be held at the Marina Bay Sands from 9 to 12 March 2019. Held in conjunction with the ASEAN Furniture Show and NOOK Asia, IFFS will be a multi-sensorial platform with a focus on the future of urban living. It will feature signature showcases in partnership with leading renowned designers, while tapping virtual reality and augmented reality technologies. Cameron Woo Design, famous for their work at Leedon Park in Singapore and The Haven in Australia, will be one of the curators for the signature showcases.
These crafted showcases draw inspiration from the rich heritage, culture and diversity of densely populated ASEAN countries and offer visitors a unique first-hand experience.
4/ SingaPlural
SingaPlural will once again be held at the National Design Centre, the nexus for design, from 4 to 17 March 2019. Organised by the SFIC and supported by Dsg, the 2019 edition will be curated by the collective Formwerkz and Bravo. The theme ”Unnatural Phenomena” explores the origin and evolution of extraordinary hybrids when disciplines collapse, mix, and morph in shared pursuits.
The event also features a one-day Master Lecture Series to be held on 6 March. Invited speakers include: Elena Manferdini, Principal and owner of Atelier Manferdini; Raffi Lehrer, Associate Art Director for Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival; and Brandon Kruysman, Creative Technology Director, Novel Technologies.
READ MORE: Playing is vital to the design process at Singaplural 2018
5/ Handmade 2019
An exhibition not to be missed is Wallpaper* magazine’s iconic Handmade 2019 exhibition, in partnership with Dsg. Since 2010, Wallpaper* has commissioned the best creatives and manufacturers to create original, one-off luxury items for its annual showcase in Milan Design Week.
For the upcoming edition, seven established Singapore-based designers have been commissioned by Wallpaper* for the show: Chris Lee, Clara Yee, Hans Tan, Lai Chan, Lanzavecchia + Wai, Lekker Architects and Tiffany Loy. Earlier in May this year, Wallpaper* had also invited young Singaporean designers to take part in an open call for the “Next Generation Designer”. Brandon Yeo, a recent graduate from LASALLE, was selected and commissioned to create a piece for 2019. The eight Singapore pieces will debut at SDW from 7 March 2019, together with selected exhibits from past editions of Handmade, before being showcased at the Milan Design Week 2019.
READ MORE: Singapore Design Week 2019 kicks off March 4
6/ Singapore Urban Design Festival
Once again, SDW is partnering creative studios to bring design into neighbourhoods. LOPELAB returns with the Singapore Urban Design Festival (#UDFSG) from 14 to 17 March 2019, promising a fresh format, new topics and novel experiences. This time, it will transform an underutilised part of a multi-storey carpark in the heart of Jalan Besar into an experiential festival village. Visitors can expect a blend of inspiring talks, immersive live entertainment and displays of innovative urban solutions.
7/ Street of Clans
Partnering Dsg for the first time, OuterEdit will host Street of Clans, a three-day local creative festival along Bukit Pasoh Road from 8 to 10 March 2019. This specially curated event offers visitors exclusive access to the stories of its clan associations and businesses, told through a showcase of home-grown design installations, talks, workshops and celebrative street atmosphere that aim to unite and connect communities together through creativity.
The inspiration for this vibrant festival centres on the heritage and history of Bukit Pasoh Road, which was and is home to many clan associations that were set up when Chinese immigrants first came to Singapore and banded together in an effort to foster unity and kinship – values that resonate well with the design community and beyond.
8/ Bras Basah.Bugis Public Artworks Street Installations
NHB, in partnership with Dsg, has co-launched an Open Call to invite artists and designers to submit a concept for the installation of public artworks as design interventions within the Queen Street area as part of SDW 2019. Once installed, the public artworks aim to provide visitors with delightful encounters to experience design, as well as to transform and enliven the urban spaces within the Queen Street area. The Open Call will close on 31 December 2018.
