President*s Design Award Tours: What To Expect
What is the common thread that runs through Enabling Village, SkyVille@Dawson and Gardens by the Bay?
They are all recipients of the President*s Design Award (P*DA) and you can now sign up to experience them first-hand!
The P*DA Tours is a new signature event launched at the Singapore Design Week that lifts the veil on the buildings and projects accorded the country’s highest design honour. The award is co-administered by DesignSingapore Council and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Kickstarting the series are two tours titled “Design that Cares” and “The Hunt for the Green Treasure”, curated to spotlight themes of impact, inclusivity, innovation and sustainability. These tours will also further enhance Singapore’s status as a UNESCO Creative City of Design, and promote these design landmarks that will attract both Singaporeans and tourists alike.
If your interest has been piqued, here’s what you can expect from the tours.
Design that Cares
Organiser: Monster Day Tours
Tour stops: Enabling Village, The Pinnacle@Duxton, Bynd Artisan
With people placed at the heart of the design process, this tour makes the concept of design meaningful and relatable. It will also show how spaces can be conceived and shaped to be accessible to anyone, regardless of ability, age or profession.
As part of the Design That Cares tour, you’ll learn how Enabling Village catalyses connections between persons with disabilities and the wider society. Look out for murals painted by street artist Ernest Zacharevic of Georgetown, Penang fame, which are inspired by artists with autism from the Autism Resource Centre located in the Village. You would also learn how the playground with its sloped, widened walkways are designed to accommodate children in wheelchairs.
“We hope that participants can appreciate the role design has, and the effort to make spaces in Singapore more inclusive, and hopefully encourage them to think more about how to make the spaces they work and live in more accessible for everyone,” says Byron Koh, the Curator of Monster Day Tours.
Beyond Enabling Village, Monster Day Tour also chose The Pinnacle@Duxton as it is public housing designed for multi-generational residents – in fact the development kept two nutmeg trees planted by former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who was the Minister of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC from 1955 to 2015.
Lastly, Bynd Artisan is the third location as it gives the spotlight to their craftsmen and the customer experience. For this, Monster Day Tours has also arranged for a workshop where visitors could engage with the craftsmen to design and create small items using leather offcuts from their products.
The Hunt for the Green Treasure
Organiser: Tribe Tours
Tour stops: SkyVille@Dawson, Gardens by the Bay, Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore
Offering a different take on the traditional tour format, Tribe Tours has gamified the experience to show how sustainable design can be found in our everyday life. A “famous architect” will issue a series of puzzles at each stop to uncover a mysterious green treasure.
“A gamified tour can get visitors excited in participating. Gamifying the tour also makes otherwise academic/heavy content palatable to the common man on the street,” shares Law Yock Song, Head of Partnerships & Business Development at Tribe Tours.
While solving the clues, participants will discover more about Singapore’s award-winning green sustainable architecture and how it contributes to Singapore’s liveability and lovability. They can also expect exclusive access into a resident’s home at SkyVille@Dawson and a cocktail mixology experience at Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore.
“Through the tour, we hope participants will gain an appreciation of sustainable design, and learn about the untold stories and challenges that the designers and architects faced in the conceptualising and building of the three projects,” adds Law.
About the President*s Design Award Tours
The President*s Design Award (P*DA) is Singapore’s highest honour for designers and design projects across all disciplines. Jointly administered by the DesignSingapore Council and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, it recognises the significant achievements of an extraordinary group of people that is impacting the lives of Singaporeans and the global community.
The President*s Design Award Tours is a new signature P*DA series that will be launched during Singapore Design Week 2022. Centred around architecture and place-making projects, two special P*DA Tours titled ‘Design that Cares’ and ‘The Hunt for the Green Treasure’ will 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 that exemplify innovation, inclusivity and sustainability. The special SDW edition will feature exclusive experiences that are not normally available to the public.