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It is that time of the year again when Singapore Design Week rolls into town.
For its fourth edition, the annual festival is a supersized celebration of all things design, with more than 100 events over 10 days in various locations around Singapore. Local and international designers, architects, craftsmen and students are putting on installations and exhibitions, as well as organising design talks, workshops and fairs. Helmed by the DesignSingaporeCouncil, the national agency for promoting design here, the festival is in session until March 12. Many of the events are free, though some workshops and talks are ticketed.
SINGAPLURAL
At SingaPlural, Singapore Design Week's anchor event, visitors can walk through an old library, complete with librarians and overhead projectors. The installation, named Tomorrow: Design Stories Of Our Future, features the work of 10 past winners of the prestigious President's Design Award collaborating with 10 illustrators to answer the question: What would a day in Singapore look like in 2065? Their responses are presented in an anthology in the "library" - each accompanied by a fictional story, sketches and images.
Interesting pairings for the project include veteran architect Tan Cheng Siong and graphic novelist Sonny Liew, who explore how Singaporeans will deal with housing; and fashion designer Alfie Leong, who dreams up a futuristic maternity outfit with illustrator Teresa Lim, which features "ear caps" equipped with in-ear baby monitors.
The home-grown SingaPlural, in its sixth edition and with a new curator, is big on such collaborations this year. Themed Stories - A New Perspective, this year's event features 100 participants and will also showcase works by young designers below age 35 and creative studios such as design duo Dazingfeelsgood and industrial designer Olivia Lee.
Mr Jackson Tan, 42, creative director at multi-disciplinary creative agency Black, SingaPlural's curator, says that as the event is a major one on the local design calendar, it is important to get the community involved. Mr Tan, who is also the designer behind the SG50 logo and SingaPlural's current logo, says: "SingaPlural is about the Singapore design community, so we should put it at the centre (of the show) and celebrate its work."
WHERE: Level 3 F1 Pit Building, 1 Republic Boulevard
WHEN: Till March 12, 11am to 10pm
ADMISSION: $10. Local students, children aged 12 and below and Singapore citizens and permanent residents 60 years old and above get free admission. Tickets are valid for multiple entries
FRONTLINERS IN ACTION
The Living Shelter, a flat-packed, easy-to-assemble construct, sits in the sun at the courtyard of the National Design Centre in Middle Road. Designed for victims of natural disasters, the boxy shelter is built without any tools and has portable and foldable furniture inside. It is also equipped with a bag for rainwater collection and a solar panel on its roof. Its facade is made of insulated aluminium panels.
The prototype is the brainchild of architectural design practice Wy-To, which has offices in Singapore and Paris; and Pod Structures, a multi-disciplinary practice that specialises in engineering. After a six-month run at last year's Venice Architecture Biennale, where it was viewed by about 250,000 people, Living Shelter returns home for its Singapore debut.
It joins two other returning exhibits from the biennale for a month-long show titled Frontliners In Action, which highlights how architects and the community create a better living environment.
Mr Yann Follain, 37, managing director and head of design at Wy-To, says Living Shelter received "amazing exposure" in Venice, but he is excited that it has come home to Singapore. European visitors thought the idea could be adapted for the current refugee crisis on the continent and that the shelter - inspired by the kampung house - could be adapted for cold weather, he says. He adds: "We want people to touch it and raise awareness about what basic needs we need to have in a disaster. "It's also a chance to show how design can contribute to a better living environment and resolve problems. It's not just for the elite."
WHERE: Atrium, Design Gallery 1 and Courtyard, National Design Centre, 111 Middle Road
WHEN: Till April 8, 9am to 9pm
ADMISSION: Free
SINGAPORE + WALLPAPER* HANDMADE CLASSICS MULTIPLICITY
The renowned Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition, a must-see for any design aficionado, is in Singapore for the first time. For its run here - held at Gillman Barracks - the influential design and lifestyle magazine dug into its archives for the best 15 highlights from past shows. First launched in 2009 and debuting every year during Milan Design Week in April, it invites high-profile designers, architects, artists, craftsmen and manufacturers to create bespoke objects, furniture, fashion, food, accessories and installations. The instalment here is called Singapore + Wallpaper* Handmade Classics MultipliCITY and the items featured are innovative and versatile - qualities "that Singapore so adeptly illustrates", says Wallpaper*'s editor- in-chief Tony Chambers.
One highlight is the Oh! electric toothbrush by Future Facility, a branch of London creative design office Industrial Facility. Future Facility worked with manufacturing company Braun and oral hygiene label Oral-B to design an app that pairs the toothbrush with a smartphone via Bluetooth. When the user is running low on brush heads, he can press a button on the toothbrush and it will send a reminder note to the phone.
While some items do get produced in limited batches for sale, Mr Chambers saysit is the process of design that matters. "That's the beauty of Handmade - we never rush the designers. It's a release from their everyday work, where they design around deadlines and budgets," says Mr Chambers, who is constantly on the lookout for new designers to work with for the exhibition.
This spells good news for designers here. With the show in town, the magazine is looking for local talent to work with for next year's instalment. The plan is for the exhibition to be a Singapore Design Week mainstay.
FRINGE ACTIVITIES AND WORKSHOPS
1. Design Trails: Design Day Out In The City
What: Get up close with Singapore's creative community and architecture through talks, demonstrations and behind-the-scenes showcases.
This year's theme is Design Day Out In The City. Participants can hop on and off free shuttle buses that will take them on a route that starts at the National Design Centre in Middle Road.
Stops include home-sharing giant Airbnb's office in Tanjong Pagar that features themed meeting rooms; furniture retailer Journey East's showroom in Outram Road which sells eco-friendly reclaimed teak furniture and industrial-styled furnishings; and Chong Wen Ge (pictured), a historical pavilion and former school premises in Telok Ayer.
Where: Various locations When: March 11 and 12, 11am to 6pm. The shuttle buses run at half-hour intervals
Admission: Free; go to bit.ly/DesignTrails2017 to register
2. D-I-Y Vintage Signs - Workshop
Where: Get in touch with your inner hipster by learning to press a faux vintage sign, inspired by an original collection of enamel advertising signs.
Where: Mint Museum of Toys, 26 Seah Street
When: March 11, noon to 5pm
Admission: $5, e-mail register@emint.com or call 6339-0660 to register
3. Interior Design Festival
What: Held for the first time, this festival offers seminars and workshops for interior designers and the public. It is organised by the Interior Design Confederation Singapore, a non-profit society for interior designers.
Home owners can attend the Living Room Chats With Interior Designers this weekend to find out more about the profession and check out works by winners of the society's Design Excellence Awards 2016.
Where: VLV at Clarke Quay, 3 River Valley Road
When: Till March 11, noon to 6pm
Admission: Prices at the door are $15 for members and students and $20 for non-members. Go to idcs-public2.peatix.com and idcs-public3.peatix.com to register. The winners exhibition is free, though talks are ticketed.
4. Gio Ponti And Tomaso Buzzi: Design Competition For An Italian Embassy In 1926
What: Original sketches from the Italian masters of architecture and design Gio Ponti and Tomaso Buzzi are on show at this exhibition organised by the Italian Cultural Institute.
Where: Training Rooms, Level 2 National Design Centre
When:Till April 10, 9am to 9pm
Admission: Free
Adapted from The Straits Times.