The importance of building a strong design culture as consumers and employees demand to be…
DesignSingapore Council Executive Director Dawn Lim muses on the convergence of design and technology in presentations of Singaporean works at Milan Design Week
As Executive Director of the DesignSingapore Council, Singapore’s national agency for design, Dawn Lim works across initiatives in the public and private sectors — an advocate for design in pursuit of social good. Her work takes myriad shapes and forms, this year at Milan Design Week, appearing as Future Impact 2, curated by Tony Chambers and Maria Cristina Didero.
Lim muses on presenting Singapore’s design in Milan this year – a vision of the future driven by technology in service of community.
DesignSingapore Council has always supported our designers keen to present at Milan Design Week since the early 2000s. Last year, DesignSingapore Council organised and staged Future Impact. It highlights Singapore as a global hub for innovation and creativity. Dsg featured new works produced by our designers in response to the theme, showcasing how impactful design solutions and technology intertwine to shape a brighter future for everyone.
The designers, curators and our team at DesignSingapore Council had in-depth conversations with visitors about designing for impact, systems design at a national level in the case of Singapore, where and how technologies such as Artificial Intelligence fit in with human-centric designs and design’s changing role in society. We’re thrilled to return this year with Future Impact 2 to showcase more designers and a more diverse range of projects that address our curatorial theme.
In considering “The Power of Design” and how it relates to our work, the impact lies in design being more than just about aesthetics. I’m a firm believer that good design is good business, and good design improves lives. You can see this very clearly in Singapore where we have designed our public housing to be attractive and affordable. One of our housing estates Pinnacle @ Duxton, standing at 50 storeys tall, received the World’s Best Housing Development at World Architecture Festival in Barcelona in 2010 for redefining high rise urban public housing.
In Future Impact 2, the designers have either integrated a different technology or pushed the boundaries of production to develop newly commissioned works that minimise environmental impact, reconsider current production methods and enhance functionality.
For instance, Gabriel Tan incorporated 3D printing for his work Good Gourd – Hybrid Basketry Lamps. It demonstrates how technology could be a complementary tool to design by creating a base structure for traditional materials. This hybrid approach could help sustain traditional craftmanship, as it reduces time needed to make a product and allows the craft to evolve.
As a prototyping city that incorporates innovation as part of its design approach, our designers are equally at ease with the flux that comes with emerging technologies, whilst being adept at harnessing it to present new possibilities for the future of design. The curators worked with the designers to present positive and impactful design solutions. We hope visitors will come away from the show, understanding the value of Singapore Design which stems from our national sense of creative purpose, one that is forward-looking and driven by social impact.
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