DESIGN DISTRICTS
Following a successful introduction last year, Design Districts in 2024 will span a greater area within Singapore’s dynamic districts of Bras Basah.Bugis, Marina and Orchard. Incorporating the festival theme of “People of Design” with its own unique take, each district will present special commissions, exhibitions, experiential activations, installations, workshops and more, reflecting the individual charm and character of the local community.
Continuing Dsg’s ongoing efforts to champion homegrown talent, the three design districts will see a network of creatives, communities, and partners collaborating to present Singapore’s distinctive brand of creativity.
BRAS
BASAH.
BUGIS
A collective, led by internationally acclaimed designer, educator, and three-time recipient of the President*s Design Award, Hans Tan, and comprising Singapore designers such as Atelier HOKO, Forest & Whale and gideon-jamie, will be shaking up Bras Basah.Bugis Design District, Singapore’s arts, heritage, and design precinct with their creativity.
Tan’s curatorial vision for the People of Design Showcase Series will see commissioned designers and studios reimagine everyday activities – eating, sleeping, reading, commuting, and more – through a series of specially created site-specific, experiential installations shaped to offer fresh perspectives across multiple venues.
Among these will be an installation envisioned by China-based food design studio, Atelier Fang, that examines food design through the lens of seeds at festival hub National Design Centre, with an accompanying dining experience at Tipo Pasta Bar at Stamford Arts Centre.
R for Repair will also be restaged at a pre-war bungalow located at 42 Waterloo Street. The exhibition, which showcases donated personal objects being mended creatively by designers, was first presented locally by Dsg and Hans Tan in 2021, then at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in 2022. This new iteration titled Repair+ focuses on mending the mind and spirit through donated objects collected in collaboration with healthcare network, Yishun Health Singapore.
EVENTS
26 SEPTEMBER - 06 OCTOBER
27 SEPTEMBER
28 SEPTEMBER
28 SEPTEMBER
MARINA
For the first time, the Marina Design District (previously headlined by events at Marina Bay) will encompass the Marina Central zone. Helming curatorial duties at Marina Central is Nathan Yong, founder of the eponymous multidisciplinary studio. As one of Singapore’s most recognised and awarded designers, Yong will present Neu Folk: Bridging Tradition and Future in Design, a series of activations which merges the collective spirit of communities with the future-thinking vision of Singaporean design.
Key highlights include the Design Pavilion at Millenia Walk that will house a curated exhibition, in addition to talks, retail experiences and workshops focused on sustainability and innovation. Merging play, education and sustainable technology will be two large-scale public installations powered by kinetic energy: Mooncycle is a pair of device-charging swings inspired by the concept of Moon Gates found in Chinese gardens, while Kinetics Energy Play invites visitors to power up a series of human-sized wheels and watch movement turn to light.
EVENTS
26 SEPTEMBER - 06 OCTOBER
04 OCTOBER
26 - 28 SEPTEMBER
26 SEPTEMBER - 06 OCTOBER
26 SEPTEMBER - 02 OCTOBER & 04 - 05 OCTOBER
ORCHARD
Over at Orchard Road, visitors can look forward to Re-Route: Orchard (RR:OR) curated by Singapore-based inter-disciplinary group PLUS Collaboratives. Taking the theme of “Be Here Now”, it brings an investigative design lens to enhance visitor experience of Singapore’s famed shopping belt.
With a forward-looking perspective, RR:OR showcases the role of design in the adaptation and transformation of place, celebrating its transformative capacity in influencing and shaping a sense of community, culture and history.
Through curated interventions and design installations such as Offshoots Route (Orchard Road’s very own stamp rally), a nostalgic playscape for little ones at Far East Plaza, and a collective design showcase in response to the theme of “Adaptive Reuse”, visitors are invited to discover spots along this iconic street that are sometimes overlooked, and delve into the continual evolution of the district’s character.
EVENTS
26 SEPTEMBER - 06 OCTOBER
28 - 29 SEPTEMBER & 04 OCTOBER
26 SEPTEMBER - 21 OCTOBER
