Design routes: the creative heart of South-East Asia beats in Singapore
Marina, Bras Basah.Bugis, Orchard and Science Park: the Lion of Asia reconfirms itself as an international hub for industrial design in four iconic locations.
3' min read
3' min read
In the 60th year of Singapore's independence, FIND - Design Fair Asia 2025 consolidates the city's role as the creative crossroads of Southeast Asia. Now in its fourth edition - after the record numbers recorded in 2024 -, the fair-event introduces Singapore Design Week in the exhibition spaces of Marina Bay Sands: a hotel and commercial complex that is an icon of the city's urban architecture, with three towers connected by the 340-metre-long Skypark suspended platform. "We are proud to renew our partnership with an event that aims at fostering the exchange between Eastern and Western design," emphasises Roberto Foresti, deputy general manager of Fiera Milano. "It is an opportunity to promote the export of Made in Italy and create a meeting point for sector experts."
Italy is also among the national pavilions: sponsored by the Italian Trading Agency, it presents a selection of companies from the Marche region linked to the world of living such as Cucinesse, forty years of made-to-measure kitchens, and Grandinetti, a reference point in the production of decorative cement for architectural surfaces, floors and walls, for over a century. At the same time, the Global Summit hosts over 60 international speakers, including representatives from established firms such as Snøhetta and Pininfarina, on topics ranging from lighting design to resilient urbanism.
Also at the fair, the group exhibition Emerge - curated by Edwin Low, founder of the brand and multi-brand shop Supermama, and Suzy Annetta, editorial director of Design Anthology - brings together 70 emerging designers from all over Asia around the theme "Dialogue Through Design", divided into two sections: Design Object, with a focus on accessories and furnishings, and Design Social, dedicated to community and social projects applied to product.
The third edition of the exhibition Future Impact: Design Nation continues until 2 November at the National Museum in Singapore. Conceived by curator Maria Cristina Didero and creative director Tony Chambers, the exhibition opens for the first time with the collaboration of a Singaporean designer, Hunn Wai, founder of the duo Lanzavecchia+Wai, to strengthen the link with local creativity and the city's history. Divided into three chapters, the exhibition traces the evolution of design in Singapore: Little Island of Brave Ideas reflects on how design has contributed to the national transformation. Future Impact 3 presents effective responses to the most pressing needs of our time, including inclusive fashion, urban healthcare and material innovation. Such as the Wishbone shoulder bag by Claudia Oh/Werable: designed to be ambidextrous and intuitive to use with both hands, it adapts perfectly to all types of walking. Virtuoso Visionaires turns the spotlight on six young designers who dilate the boundaries of circularity, identity and speculative living scenarios. One for all is Ng Sze Kiat, founder of Bewilder, a mycological design studio based in Singapore, which works exclusively with mushrooms as a means of transforming organic by-products into food, medicine, furniture and more valuable sustainable innovations.
Under the curatorship of Jerry Goh, founder of Grain, and Yao, creative producer, the Orchard Design District works on the concept of Open Design Dialogue (ODD) by activating collaborations between brands and young international creatives. Thus, the Design In Situ route was born: 10 stores present experiential and site-specific installations created exclusively for SDW. Aesop, by the Australian studio Other Matter founded by Jessie French, dresses the shop with a special algae-based bioplastic wallpaper in different shades of green.
