ABOUT SDW

One of Asia’s premier design festivals, Singapore Design Week (SDW) celebrates Singapore’s distinctive brand of creativity, exploring design through three defining festival pillars: Design Futures, Design Marketplace, and Design Impact.

Organised by the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg), SDW is a celebration of creativity and innovation, championing thought leadership and showcasing the best of design from Singapore and beyond in our UNESCO City of Design.

DESIGN FUTURES

Design Futures explores the future of design through Singapore’s forward-looking lens, aiming to prototype a better future for us all – furthering the nation’s reputation as a innovative, futuristic city of design. Upholding this pillar is SDW’s flagship Design Futures Forum, which features a diverse line-up of thought leaders from Singapore and around the world coming together to explore design’s critical role in areas of Emerging Technology, Sustainability and Care.

The Design Futures Forum visual by Practice Theory highlights the unfolding of rich narratives, with the opening of layered tabs revealing the depth and expansiveness of the discipline.

DESIGN MARKETPLACE

Design Marketplace unites lifestyle trends from around the world with the fast-growing design community of the Southeast Asia region. This pillar is anchored by FIND – Design Fair Asia, Asia’s largest design trade fair, and EMERGE @ FIND, Dsg’s talent showcase dedicated to Southeast Asian contemporary design, curated by Suzy Annetta of Design Anthology.

FIND – Design Fair Asia (left) and EMERGE @ FIND (right) at Marina Bay Sands during SDW 2023. Photos courtesy of FIND – Design Fair Asia.

DESIGN IMPACT

Design Impact inspires with innovative and impactful design solutions that tackle society’s biggest questions. The pillar aligns with Singapore’s design values and our strengths as a purveyor of sustainable urban solutions, anchored by festival commissions across the various Design Districts.

Works showcased at Future Impact 2 during Milan Design Week 2024. Photos by Mark Cocksedge.

PAST EDITIONS

The festival explored the theme “People of Design” in 2024, bringing together participants from within and beyond the design community to celebrate everyday visionaries with a passion for making lives better through design.

Over 190,000 visitors and more than 700 designers and creatives participated in its 11-day run from 26 September to 6 October 2024. More than 80 events were held across the city as part of the festival, spanning three Design Districts – Bras Basah.Bugis, Marina, and Orchard – and beyond, featuring key exhibitions by local designers and curators Hans Tan, PLUS Collaboratives, Nathan Yong and more.

Playground of Possibilities at National Design Centre, as part of Singapore Design Week 2023. Photo by Pretty Much Films.

In 2023, the festival saw an expanded range of offerings with over 80 events across the city-state, including three major special commissions by homegrown design trail-blazers, three Design Districts, 163 international partners and 214 expert speakers – bringing the total number of designers and creatives involved to more than 500. 

Coinciding with Dsg’s 20th anniversary, the theme of this year’s festival was inspired by the council’s motto Better by Design. The theme exemplifies what Singapore Design stands for – the desire to always make lives better, that is borne from a strong sense of creative purpose and crafted for positive impact. 

More than 127,000 visitors participated in the 11-day festival held at various locations across the island. A key highlight introduced this year was Design Districts that included the Bras Basah.Bugis Design District, curated by Singaporean designer Jackson Tan, co-founder of BLACK, where the festival commissions by BLACK, Lekker Architects and Kinetic Singapore took centrestage in the district. 

Following a two-year review, SDW returned in 2022 with a brand new vision that carves a distinctive and enduring niche by focusing on Singapore’s unique design strengths. Proclaimed “A bigger, bolder flagship design fest” by The Straits Times, SDW 2022 brought together more than 70 events and 200 designers over 10 days, and welcomed over 300,000 local, regional and international visitors.