Singapore Design Week 2025 takes on the future with thought-provoking design solutions of tomorrow

On the occasion of the nation’s 60th year of independence, the festival examines what design holds for the future of Singapore and beyond

The Design Futures Forum visual by Outeredit draws inspiration from the tactile nature of analog media and layering of mixed formats to reflect the dynamic nature of approaching and constructing the future.

Singapore, 26 August 2025 – As Singapore Design Week 2025 marks SG60 with the festival theme “Nation by Design”, it celebrates the city-state’s design legacy while looking boldly ahead to the future with a trio of key events and other programmes spotlighting the full spectrum of design’s role in shaping tomorrow.

Central to this forward-looking lens is one of the festival’s flagship initiatives, the Design Futures Forum. Organised by DesignSingapore Council, this is the third edition which has hosted past speakers such as Pritzker Prize laureate Shigeru Ban, Danish platform Design Matters and acclaimed Asian voices like Thai architect Boonserm Permthada. This year’s forum is co-curated by Aric Chen, Director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation and Ong Ker-Shing, Co-founder of Lekker Architects, and will center around the global changes around sustainability, climate change, emerging technologies, social equity and care which are becoming increasingly intertwined. Attendees can expect a refreshed format with an unvarnished look at challenges in designing for such complex global issues while discovering unexpected opportunities and inspiration.

Complementing the forum are two specially presented exhibitions within the festival: The ArtScience Museum premieres Another World is Possible, a speculative exercise in world-building through a distinctly Singapore lens. Spanning architecture, design, literature and cinema, the exhibition assembles over 100 works by close to 40 contributors, including 16 Singapore-based practitioners. Meanwhile, Sausage of the Future: Singapore Edition marks the Asian debut of food designer and researcher Carolien Niebling’s acclaimed project. Reimagining one of humanity’s most universal food forms, the exhibition investigates sustainability, innovation and food security.

“The festival theme of ‘Nation by Design’ highlights the role of design in Singapore’s progress, inspiring us to reflect on what’s ahead. Through three unique experiences, we invite festival-goers to step into the future. The Design Futures Forum sets the stage for urgent conversations, Another World is Possible offers bold new visions; and Sausage of the Future: Singapore Edition provides more food for thought on our sustenance and culinary culture,” says Jody Teo, Festival Director of Singapore Design Week 2025 and Director, Marketing Communications and Outreach, DesignSingapore Council.

Navigating brave new worlds

Clockwise from top left: Ong Ker-Shing, Co-founder, Lekker Architects; Aric Chen, Director, Zaha Hadid Foundation; and Tamsin Greulich-Smith, Director, Design Practice, DesignSingapore Council will lead the discussions with speakers such as Theodoric Chew, Founder and CEO, Intellect; Dr Ayesha Khanna, Co-founder and CEO, Addo AI; and Filmmaker Liam Young. Photos courtesy of respective speakers.

Returning for the third year, Design Futures Forum takes an interdisciplinary approach in examining the issues of today, and what this means for the future. The forum, titled Braving Complexities, explores the intersections where sustainability meets emerging technologies; technology-enabled healthcare; and sustainable ways to design with care for people and planet.

“The forum has, for a couple of years now, been tackling the subjects of care, technology and sustainability. While these concerns remain central, it’s just as important to look at what design is today – a complex, often messy process that increasingly needs to be comfortable in complexity. In fact, design thrives in complexity. When we embrace its messiness, designers become vital players in uncovering challenges and shaping innovations for our future,” says Ong.

The line-up of speakers discussing these topics includes:

Liam Young whose provocative, speculative films are urgent examinations of current environmental questions
Theodoric Chew, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of homegrown start-up, Intellect, which has become Asia Pacific’s largest employee mental health benefits company
Dr Ayesha Khanna, who founded 21C Girls, which taught thousands of students the basics of AI and coding
Thomas Thwaites, Author of The Toaster Project and Goatman: How I Took a Holiday from Being Human
Chat Chuenrudeemol, Founder of Chat Architects and Documentarian of Thai vernacular “street” typologies, affectionately called ‘Bangkok Bastards’
Alice Bucknell, whose innovative video games allow players to take on the perspective of non-humans, dissolving binaries like humans versus environment
Adi Reza, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Indonesian bio-tech start-up MYCL and an Earthshot Prize 2024 finalist

(More speakers and their bios can be found in the press kit here)

The one-day forum taking place on 17 September 2025 at Victoria Theatre will also offer an immersive networking experience curated by local creative agency OuterEdit. Key themes will be integrated into gastronomic offerings and onsite experiences, co-created with like-minded partners such as Singapore’s largest indoor mushroom farm Fogo Fungi and agri-tech start-up Singrow.

Future-gazing for a taste of tomorrow

A render of East Coast Parkway, Singapore, as conceived by WOHA, that will be among nearly 100 works exhibited as part of Another World is Possible. Picture courtesy of WOHA and Obilia.

Over at ArtScience Museum, Another World is Possible opens new possibilities and alternative realities on 13 September. A key event of Singapore Design Week, this exhibition co-curated by the Museum and filmmaker Liam Young reveals a series of seven visually stunning chapters on how we can design a more hopeful, sustainable, and equitable future.

In response of the festival theme of “Nation by Design”, Another World is Possible will also feature Singapore-based architects, designers and creatives who are actively reshaping our city. Projects exhibited range from WOHA’s biodiverse vertical cities to Finbarr Fallon’s photographic reimagining of the Singapore Flyer.

“At a time when the future seems uncertain, we need reminders that other worlds are possible. As such, I am delighted that our next exhibition at ArtScience Museum, Another World Is Possible, invites visitors to look ahead with imagination, resolve and optimism. Together with DesignSingapore Council, we have embarked on an ambitious endeavour to articulate a more Singaporean ‘point of view’ on the future – one defined by resilience, creativity, and collective vision. In that sense, it feels like a timely offering to the world during this momentous and meaningful SG60 season,” said Honor Harger, Vice President of ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands.

Sausage of the Future: Singapore Edition reinvents a classic food to challenge how we think about food, culture, and sustainability. Picture courtesy of Studio Carolien Niebling.

In a separate commissioned showcase by DesignSingapore Council, festival-goers get an edible glimpse into how we can consume more responsibly and creatively while delving into urgent themes of food waste, biodiversity and preservation.

Created by food designer and researcher Carolien Niebling, Sausage of the Future: Singapore Edition makes its Asian debut with new sausage concepts inspired by local ingredients and developed with partners such as Huber’s Butchery, The Meatery, and Nithiya Laila of Brunch Bandits.

Alongside Niebling’s sculptural food models from her hit project which has travelled to New York, Milan, London, Zurich and Eindhoven, visitors in Singapore get an expanded version with fresh content, in addition to being able to taste these experimental sausages during SDW’s Bras Basah.Bugis Friday Late event on 12 September 2025 at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Fashion Gallery, Campus 2).

“The sausage is one of mankind’s first-ever designed food items. Like Singapore itself, it’s born from ingenuity and necessity, proving that smart ideas can be deliciously efficient. For this showcase, we’ve partnered with Singaporean food visionaries to craft four entirely new sausages, each tackling a unique food challenge from food security to biodiversity to shelf life while reinventing tradition for Singapore’s vibrant culinary culture,” says Niebling.

Future-forward Design Community events

Throughout the 11-day festival, several design studios and corporates will be sharing how the future is impacting their work as part of the Design Community events. Look out for Futures Feast, an immersive experience by design studio Chemistry exploring Singapore’s future through each course of the meal, Equitech Collective’s gathering of regional partners, community builders, and system designers who work across Asia to share insights on building a more equitable future through hyperlocal design as well as super app Grab’s open house to discuss the topic of ‘Future by Design’, where design takes centrestage in driving innovation and empowering individuals.

“Singapore has always been forward-looking. In just six decades, we dared to imagine a different future and boldly executed it. At our festival, we carry this same conviction: to explore what’s next, and design futures that are not only visionary, but also deeply human. From the Design Futures Forum to the myriad Design Community events, the programming this year will also offer fresh perspectives on how, through design, we can realise futures that are better, fairer, and more hopeful for everyone,” said Dawn Lim, Executive Director of the DesignSingapore Council.

Design Futures Forum 2025
17 Sep 2025, Victoria Theatre
bit.ly/SDWDFF25

Tickets for the Design Futures Forum are currently on sale. Please refer to the website for the latest programme and updates.

Another World is Possible
Opens 13 Sep 2025 to 22 Feb 2026, ArtScience Museum
sdw.designsingapore.org/events/another-world-is-possible/

Sausage of the Future: Singapore Edition
Opens 11 Sep 2025 to 19 Oct 2025, NAFA Fashion Gallery, Campus 2
sdw.designsingapore.org/events/the-sausage-of-the-future-singapore-edition/

Images can be found in this folder here.

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.
https://designsingapore.org/