Design and the Quest for a Better World

“The title of this year's symposium points to a dual meaning. On one hand, it highlights Singapore's unique approach, based on modelling, prototyping, testing, and perfecting solutions for preferable futures, as in a design process. On the other hand, it points to individual citizens and their ability and responsibility. Who has agency to determine and build the future? It is not only official bodies or corporations; agency lies in each of us, through the decisions we make and the actions we take every day.”

– Paola Antonelli,

Curatorial Director

Developed by Curatorial Director Paola Antonelli, the Design Futures Symposium 2022 will focus on the design of the future and the future of design, assembling a host of distinguished designers and thinkers from Singapore and around the world. Together they will probe some of the critical ways in which design is fundamental to strategies for the future; and an enzyme for progress.

A diverse line up of content and speakers will address issues such as design approaches to complexity, systems and prototypes; the imperative of regenerative design; designing for local and global challenges such as ageing populations and dense, low-carbon cities; how design can optimise human experience within the rest of nature; and how design can harness technology to build a better and more inclusive future.

Programme Overview:

SESSION 1

The first session of the symposium will investigate system thinking and the practice of prototyping as key concepts to engage with complexity and envision a better future for all. A systemic approach and reliance on prototyping are also pillars of the contemporary design process, and critical ingredients of any future-facing project. Singapore is a design in continuous progress, a highly complex system, and an exquisitely prototyping city. The first session will examine the concepts of system, prototype and complexity, and probe the potential of these concepts.

‘Introduction and Welcomes’

Mark Wee

Dawn Lim

‘Agency for the Future’

Paola Antonelli

‘Of Systems and Prototypes’

Dr Mae-ling Lokko

Shaway Yeh

Dr Aaron Maniam

Paola Antonelli – Moderator

‘Singapore As Design’

Prof. Lim Siong Guan

Charlotte McCann – Interviewer

SESSION 2

The pre-dinner session will open our gaze to the world – to local, regional and global systems; to the world of design; to the role of designers and citizens, and the agency we have to steer our course. We will explore examples of projects at all scales that use design to address critical challenges that are specific to Singapore and might inspire the rest of the world. Other focal points will be regenerative and investigative modes for design, and their expansive circumferences of impact; and the role and changed DNA of innovation.

‘Design by Systems’

Wong Mun Summ

Founding Director, WOHA (Singapore)

Dr Emi Kiyota

Associate Professor, National University of Singapore

Director (Programme), Health District @ Queenstown (Singapore)

Prof. Stephen Cairns

Dr Nirmal Kishnani

Paola Antonelli – Moderator

‘On Regenerative Design’

Sarah Mineko Ichioka

Natsai Audrey Chieza

Paola Antonelli – Moderator

‘Design, Futures, and the Role of Innovation’

Michela Magas

Duleesha Kulasooriya

Paola Antonelli

SESSION 3

The final session will refocus on Singapore, seen through the eyes of designers, both local and international, that are engaging with its future. In two main segments using Singapore as a reference point, this session will consider what could come from a reframing of the metrics of cities through a less technical lens, and how resilience could be developed and harnessed as a result to help cities thrive and flourish.

‘Architecture Between Meaning, Emotion, and Function’

Thomas Heatherwick

Founder, Heatherwick Studio (UK)

Prof. Erwin Viray – Interviewer

Chief Sustainability Officer, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) (Singapore)

‘Revisiting 1000 Singapores’

Khoo Peng Beng

Belinda Huang

Dr Erik L’Heureux

Architect [FAIA] and Educator (Singapore)

Closing Remarks

Paola Antonelli

This event has been accredited in the following CPD Programmes:

SIA-BOA CPD Programme: 2 CPD points

SILA CPD Programme: 6 CPD Points

SIDAC CPD Programme: 4 CPD points

SPEAKERS

Paola Antonelli

Prof. Stephen Cairns

Principal Investigator of Agropolitan Territories of Monsoon Asia, FCL Global (Singapore)

Prof. Stephen Cairns is a designer, writer and teacher focusing on architecture and urban design. He is Professor in Architecture at ETH Zurich, Principal Investigator for Agropolitan Territories at Future Cities Lab (FCL) and currently the Ong Siew May Visiting Professor at NUS. He co-authored Buildings Must Die: A Perverse View of Architecture (with Jane M. Jacobs) (MIT Press, 2017), co-edited the Future Cities Laboratory: Indicia series (with Devisari Tunas) (Lars Müller Press with NUS Press, 2017, 2019 and 2021) and designed the Expandable House (short-listed for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2022 cycle).

Natsai Audrey Chieza

Thomas Heatherwick

Belinda Huang

Co-founder, ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism (Singapore)

Belinda Huang co-founded ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism with her husband Khoo Peng Beng in 1998. They were recipients of the prestigious P*DA for the ‘Designer of the Year’ in 2020 and are currently working on projects in Singapore, Malaysia, China, India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Rwanda. Belinda was a co-curator of Singapore’s contribution to the 2010 Venice Biennale, 1000 Singapores: A Model of the Compact City. She is extremely interested in the human dimension of architecture and believes good architecture can inspire and transform human lives.

Sarah Mineko Ichioka

Khoo Peng Beng

Co-founder, ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism (Singapore)

Khoo Peng Beng co-founded ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism with his wife Belinda Huang in 1998. They were recipients of the prestigious President*s Design Award for the ‘Designer of the Year’ in 2020 and are currently working on projects in Singapore, Malaysia, China, India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Rwanda. Peng Beng was the lead curator of Singapore’s contribution to the 2010 Venice Biennale, 1000 Singapores: A Model of the Compact City. Peng Beng’s studio at NUS is focussed on the holonic revolution and trans-contextuality in architecture.

Dr Nirmal Kishnani

Associate Professor, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore (Singapore)

Dr Nirmal Kishnani has spent more than twenty years at the frontlines of sustainability, advising on projects and policies in Asia, formulating new platforms and scrutinising the space between frontline theory and design practice. His role as consultant includes the recently completed SDE4 – a net-zero energy building at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Nirmal was Editor-in-Chief of the FuturArc magazine for more than a decade (2008-2021). His books include Greening Asia: Emerging Principles for Sustainable Architecture (2012) and Ecopuncture: Transforming Architecture and Urbanism in Asia (2019). Nirmal is Programme Co-director of the MSc Integrated Sustainable Design at NUS.

Dr Emi Kiyota

Duleesha Kulasooriya

Dr Erik L’Heureux

Architect [FAIA] and Educator (Singapore)

Architect and academic Dr Erik L’Heureux (Ph.D.) FAIA, LEED AP BD+C has been based on the equator for two decades, developing expertise in designing climatically calibrated buildings. He led the design of award-winning projects including the super-low-carbon renovations of SDE 1 and SDE 3 at NUS, where he has taught for over 17 years. The Wheelwright Prize from Harvard University has recognised his creative efforts, as well as several other American, regional and Singaporean awards. His writing includes Deep Veils (ORO Editions, 2014) and Renovating Carbon (ORO Editions, 2023). He was co-editor for Drawing Climate (Birkhäuser, 2021).

Prof. Lim Siong Guan

Dr Mae-ling Lokko

Michela Magas

Dr Aaron Maniam

Charlotte McCann – Interviewer

South East Asia Correspondent, The Economist (Singapore)

Charlotte McCann is The Economist's South East Asia Correspondent. She covers politics, business and society in Singapore, where she is based, and elsewhere in the region. Before moving to Singapore, she was an editor in the London office of The Economist's sister magazine, 1843, where she wrote about the arts, music and gender. She is the author of a short history of sexuality.

Prof. Erwin Viray – Interviewer

Chief Sustainability Officer, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) (Singapore)

Prof. Erwin Viray leads SUTD’s sustainability initiatives. Prior to this role, he was Head of SUTD’s Architecture and Sustainable Design Pillar from 2016 to 2021. He has held positions at Kyoto Institute of Technology and Kyoto Design Lab, served as a Member of the Board of TOTO GALLERY MA in Tokyo, and advised the Barcelona Institute of Architecture. He is an Award Ambassador for the LafargeHolcim Awards in Asia Pacific. Erwin has been an Editor of a+u (Architecture + Urbanism) since 1996.

Wong Mun Summ

Founding Director, WOHA (Singapore)

Wong Mun Summ co-founded architectural practice WOHA in 1994. He is a Professor-in-Practice at the NUS Department of Architecture where he co-directs the Integrated Sustainable Design Masters Studio. WOHA works at all scales and sees their projects as active components that participate in larger urban and natural systems. Their projects foster community, enable stewardship of nature, generate biocentric beauty, activate ecosystem services and build resilience. WOHA’s award-winning projects include PARKROYAL Collection Pickering, Kampung Admiralty, SkyVille @ Dawson and the Oasia Hotel Downtown in Singapore.

Photo by Studio Periphery.

Shaway Yeh

Founder, yehyehyeh (China)

Shaway Yeh is one of China’s key opinion leaders on fashion and culture. Under her editorial direction, Modern Weekly has reached China’s elite readers. Shaway has been using her media outreach and influence in the fashion community to advocate issues related to sustainability and innovation. In 2017 she founded consulting agency yehyehyeh to push forward the sustainability agenda among Chinese brands and designers and instigate value-based change. Her annual Shan Future Forum brings thinkers, creatives, entrepreneurs and innovators together to discuss major issues of sustainability.

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