DESIGN DISTRICTS
As part of Dsg’s commitment to spotlight homegrown talent and foster meaningful collaborations, SDW 2025 is expanding to four key precincts – returning Design Districts of Bras Basah.Bugis, Marina, Orchard, along with the new addition of Singapore Science Park. Each district will interpret the festival theme that reflects its unique identity through immersive experiences.
BRAS
BASAH.
BUGIS
As the epicentre of creativity, arts and heritage, the Bras Basah.Bugis (BBB) Design District will host two new festival commissions that spotlight Singapore’s brand of creativity that turns limitations into opportunities.
Staged at the National Design Centre, the Unnatural History Museum of Singapore led by Pann Lim, Co-founder and Creative Director of creative agency Kinetic Singapore, will reframe the nation’s past 60 years of development. This unconventional exhibition offers a thought-provoking exploration of how the city-state flourishes through deliberate planning and bold design despite the lack of natural resources. Through three themes: R/Evolutionary Life, Growing Habitats and The Resourceful Island, visitors are invited to explore some of the nation’s most curious creations, which include a six-metre “fossil” of the Merlion, unusual habitats, reimagined landscapes, and hybrid flora and robotic fauna like “cyborg cockroaches”, which were developed by the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, HTX (Home Team Science and Technology Agency) and Klass Engineering & Solutions.
The journey extends to NAFA’s Fashion Gallery with The Sausage of the Future: Singapore Edition. Building on Zurich-based Dutch designer and researcher Carolien Niebling’s investigation into one of mankind’s first-ever designed food, this commission presents a selection of innovative sausages inspired by Singapore’s vibrant culinary culture and food security needs. Making its debut in Asia, the exhibition responds to urgent food sustainability challenges such as food waste, biodiversity, and preservation. It showcases four newly designed sausages through anatomical models, large-scale prints of proposed local ingredients, and a tasting event.
EVENTS
19 - 20 SEPTEMBER
18 SEPTEMBER - 18 OCTOBER
11 - 20 SEPTEMBER
11 - 21 SEPTEMBER
11 SEPTEMBER - 19 OCTOBER
MARINA
At the heart of the Marina Design District, design flourishes – from international stages at Marina Bay Sands to human-centred experiences in Marina Central.
Returning to Marina Bay Sands for its fourth edition, FIND – Design Fair Asia will run from 11 to 13 September, bringing together over 300 international brands and country pavilions from across Asia and Europe. Organised by dmg events and Fiera Milano, the fair also features the FIND – Global Summit, with over 60 cross-disciplinary thought leaders from the fields of architecture, design, and hospitality.
EMERGE @ FIND also returns with co-curators Edwin Low (Founder of Supermama) and Suzy Annetta (Founding editor-in-chief of Design Anthology), presenting over 100 works by more than 70 designers. This year’s edition expands beyond Southeast Asia to include creatives from North and East Asia, with satellite showcases at the Asian Civilisations Museum and Enabling Village in October. Marina Central remains a mainstay of the Marina Design District this year, returning with a focus on “Design for Care”, curated by Architect and Principal of Zarch Collaboratives, Randy Chan. A series of thoughtful, human-centred activations will take place across Marina Square, Millenia Walk, South Beach, and Suntec City, including a Design Pavilion at Millenia Walk constructed using the iconic Unica Plastic Stool designed in the 1990s. Other highlights include an inclusive Indoor Playground at Marina Square, designed for neurodivergent children in mind, and a series of installations and placemaking structures to encourage rest, reflection and shared moments.
EVENTS
10 - 21 SEPTEMBER & 18 SEPTEMBER
15 SEPTEMBER
11 - 13 SEPTEMBER
11 - 21 SEPTEMBER
ORCHARD
The Orchard Design District welcomes *SCAPE and the wider Somerset Belt this year as it rallies youths to be co-creators around the concept of “Open Design Dialogue (ODD)”. Curated by Jerry Goh of branding and design studio, Grain, the district’s centrepiece is a pavilion – developed in collaboration with architectural designer Nous Nous, botanical studio This Humid House, and kinetic technologist Insert Coin – where discussions and installations will be held.
Festivalgoers can also look forward to curated trails and a series of in-store brand collaborations with the likes of Beyond The Vines, In Good Company, MUJI and Moleskine.
EVENTS
11 - 21 SEPTEMBER
SINGAPORE SCIENCE PARK
Singapore Science Park will make its debut as a new Design District, where science and technology meets design. Curated by local creative agency OuterEdit and in partnership with CapitaLand Development, this inaugural edition introduces the theme of “REINVENTION”, transforming the newly launched Geneo precinct and the park into a living lab of installations, experiments, and inventions.
The district comes alive with the participation of global innovation leaders like DENSO, KONE, and Merck, alongside homegrown creative partners like Green House and Tusitala, exploring how design thinking meets bold ideas in urban planning, material science, healthcare, sustainability and more.
EVENTS
11 - 21 SEPTEMBER