Record crowds and participation for Singapore Design Week 2025’s SG60 edition

The festival celebrates six decades of design shaping the nation and paves the way for a refreshed format ahead as part of the Design Masterplan 2035

Singapore, 9 October 2025 – Singapore Design Week (SDW) 2025 has closed on a high note, drawing over 400,000 visitors across 11 days from 11 to 21 September 2025. Marking Singapore’s 60th year of independence, this year’s festival was the most ambitious to date – featuring four Design Districts, more than 70 events island-wide and new collaborations such as a design edition of the Singapore River Festival, a partnership to activate Jalan Besar into a makers’ district, and the global premiere of Another World is Possible with the ArtScience Museum.

Organised by the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg), this year’s theme “Nation by Design”, highlighted how design has been central to Singapore’s growth over the past 60 years, while looking ahead to the role it will play in shaping the nation’s future.

Festival highlights: Showcasing a nation transformed by design

In addition to record attendance, over 1,600 partners, designers and creatives participated in the festival, more than double last year’s figures. For the first time, Singapore Science Park joined as a Design District while the Bras Basah.Bugis Design District, hosted two festival commissions that reflected Singapore’s spirit of turning limitations into opportunities: The Unnatural History Museum of Singapore, reframed six decades of nation-building design; and The Sausage of the Future: Singapore Edition, which brought imaginative takes on food challenges. Both showcases will run until 26 October and 19 October 2025 respectively.

Meanwhile, Marina Central explored the concept of Design for Care through inclusive installations and public spaces that encouraged reflection and connection, Orchard placed youths at the forefront, with *SCAPE driving co-creation through a dialogue pavilion, workshops, and brand collaborations along the wider Orchard shopping belt stretching from Tanglin to Dhoby Ghaut.

The festival also increased its reach and resonance through partnerships with other events to further the design agenda. The Singapore River Festival presented its first-ever design edition as part of SDW; Find Your Folks @ Jalan Besar, created with LOPELAB and Ice Cream Sundays in partnership with Enterprise Singapore, spotlighted community-led innovation; and the global premiere of Another World is Possible at the ArtScience Museum challenged audiences to imagine alternative futures.

The festival’s signature programmes continued to draw strong interest. The Design Futures Forum attracted an audience of nearly 500. At Marina Bay Sands, FIND – Design Fair Asia showcased more than 250 international brands and five national pavilions, with first-time participants from France and Hong Kong. For the first time, EMERGE @ FIND was co-curated by a Singaporean, SUPERMAMA founder Edwin Low, and broadened its scope with over 100 works by 70 designers from across Asia, including debuts from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

In addition, EMERGE will be continuing through a retail showcase at the Supermama store at the Asian Civilisations Museum. Social impact-led works from EMERGE will also be featured as part of a thematic fringe show exploring inclusive design at Enabling Village from now till 31 October 2025.

Sustainability and the afterlife of SDW showcases

Guided by the Council’s direction for greater sustainability and responsible practices in Singapore Design Week, key partners and organisers have embarked on upcycling efforts following the end of the festival.

At Singapore Science Park, the REINVENTION stage was designed for responsible reuse. Scaffolding structures and rented lighting equipment were returned to their respective firms. Panels were distributed to companies such as local DJ collective 5210PM, known for featuring salvaged materials for their stage set design and are likely to be adopted by other interested institutions like the ITE’s School of Design and Media (Visual Merchandising) for creative applications. The 15 upcycled wayfinding Chapalang Structures by interior design studio Knock Knock Studio were further turned into office furniture by the studio with materials like tension straps shared with their contractors. Plans are also underway to rent out the custom-built furniture by The Merry Men Works.

Marina Central is similarly ensuring a sustainable afterlife for its various showcases. The Care Pavilion will be reused and reimagined for a separate event; discussions are underway for Care-Full Shelter to be placed at another location; seats and materials from the Gratitude Grove will be recycled for other projects by the fabricator; the SilverActive fitness station remains on display until the end of the year, after which it will be donated to the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council as a permanent community fitness space for seniors.

Over at the Orchard Design District, its Low-Res Pavilion was conceptualised with circularity in mind – minimising waste and extending its life through a modular design. Concrete bricks in the pavilion were shared with the creative community for use in other exhibitions and offices; all lights, panels and polycarbonate sheets have been distributed as part of materials for future projects including an upcoming performance at *SCAPE next year. The Hoop Benches by Studio Juju and wayfinding signages created for SDW are adopted by *SCAPE as public furniture and for future use in its upcoming relaunch.

“Sustainability was integral to the curation and creation of Open Design Dialogue (ODD). The afterlife of different showcases, such as the Low-Res Pavilion, was part of the conversation and guided choices from material selection to post-event redistribution. These efforts reflect our pursuit of responsible design where creative expression and sustainability move in tandem,” said Jerry Goh, co-founder of Grain Studio and curator of ODD.

The Council is also working directly with new partners for the responsible redistribution and reuse of other festival materials. More than 100 street banners and other environmental branding were donated to Green Sproutz Singapore where they will be turned into eco-products such as reusable bags or used in upcycling workshops. Props like the inflatable Dragon Playground will be reused at the upcoming Sing60 Music Festival in December; exhibits from the Unnatural History Museum of Singapore will be finding new homes, including the popular 6-metre tall Merlion fossil which may reappear at a different location by the end of the year.

Looking ahead towards 2026 and beyond

The conclusion of SDW 2025 marks the start of a new chapter ahead for this flagship event. In view of the maturing of SDW and design’s role in Singapore which will be outlined in the upcoming Design Masterplan 2035, DesignSingapore Council looks towards scaling the festival further to match the expanding reach of Singapore design and ambitions of the creative community. To position Singapore as a leading global hub for design, the festival will return in a refreshed format as the Singapore Design Biennale in 2027.

Until then, the Council will continue to increase design awareness through various initiatives and expand community outreach in the coming year. This includes a new exhibition at New Bahru, a series of community engagement activities to showcase Singapore design at key events in the local and international calendar, and a new programme being developed as part of a three-year partnership with SBS Transit to introduce design interventions across the rail network.

“Since its return in 2022, Singapore Design Week has grown tremendously, expanding with new pillars, districts and showcases that reflect our ambition as a UNESCO Creative City of Design. We have also been actively raising the profile of Singapore design overseas at platforms such as Milan Design Week, the Venice Architecture Biennale and Expo 2025, while building new local partnerships. As we chart the path ahead with the Design Masterplan 2035, moving to a biennale format will deepen our curation, elevate quality and amplify impact in the years to come – strengthening our creative story and placing Singapore firmly on the world stage,” said Dawn Lim, Executive Director of Dsg.

PRESS ASSETS AND ONGOING SDW EVENTS

Download Press Assets

High-resolution images of SDW 2025 can be downloaded HERE. To request more images, please contact the Dsg representatives below.

Explore More Events from SDW

Several SDW 2025 events are extending beyond the festival period, such as the Unnatural History Museum of Singapore. For more information on these ongoing SDW 2025 events, please refer to Annex A.

About Singapore Design Week

One of Asia’s premier design festivals, Singapore Design Week (SDW) celebrates Singapore’s distinctive brand of creativity, exploring design through three defining festival pillars: Design Futures (the design of the future and the future of design), Design Marketplace (lifestyle trends with a spotlight on Southeast Asia) and Design Impact (innovative solutions for a better world). Organised by DesignSingapore Council, SDW is a celebration of creativity and innovation, championing thought leadership and showcasing the best of design from Singapore and beyond.
sdw.sg

About the DesignSingapore Council

The DesignSingapore Council’s (Dsg’s) vision is for Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city by design. As the national agency that promotes design, our mission is to develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design. Dsg is a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board.
designsingapore.org