With less than a week to go for SingaPlural 2018, here are some of the interesting exhibits on display. SingaPlural, the anchor event of the Singapore Design Week 2018, focuses on exploring the concept of Play as an important experimental process that precedes design work. It focuses on celebrating the stage of work even before the actual design work begins.
Experience for yourself what SingaPlural has to offer at the National Design Centre, till 18 March.
Light Me Up
Dwell into the designer’s mind and experience the conceptualization process of a new product yourself. Multidisciplinary design studio, STUDIO DAM, reveals what goes on behind-the-scenes when designers experiment to create a new type of coloured lighting.
Besides the resulting range of lamp shades that make up the Chroma Light Series, you can also view prototypes from the various stages of the design process as part of the exhibition.
Changing Viewpoints
Can you spot a square in the picture above? No? We don’t want to give it away but you would actually have to be at the main entrance of the National Design Centre to see it.
This installation, titled Perspective, is a collaboration between Kvadrat, a textile manufacturer, and Publicworks, a design collective. Besides offering a variety of perspectives when you view it from different angles, the installation also brings to attention the use of an environmentally friendly textile made from post-consumer recycled polyester.
Beauty in the “imperfect”
At the Take a Peak exhibit, you can walk through a tunnel-like space adorned with crumpled and creased paper. Here, you can take a closer look at how the textural quality of paper is made more dynamic with the depths and tones created by the crushing process. With the objective of exploring the architectural possibilities of paper, this exhibit is a collaboration between Antalis, a paper distributor, and META Studio, a design practice.
Unplug from noise
Stand right in the middle of Headspace, an installation that dampens noise, for a moment to disconnect from the sounds around you. Co-designed by Kvadrat and Publicworks, the installation is made from an upcycled textile that seeks to provide a solution to the urgent global issue of too much waste.
Rock Along
Embrace your inner child by getting on the indoor rocking furniture at the StealPlay exhibit. Design firms IDF Singapore, arttd’inox and Trigger Design reimagined the traditional rocking horse, creating these Animal Rockers inspired by animals such as the Chital (deer), the Bengal Tiger, and the Buffalo.
1001 Ways to Imagine
Walk right into a giant pop-up book at the PLAY Book exhibit for children aged three and above. The PLAY Book is self-standing, opens up into four adjoining panels, and has pop-up objects that protrude both ways – providing a real immersive experience. This life-sized play environment is created by Pinch Design, a creative design agency, to facilitate children’s imaginative play.
Songs of Nature
Step into this sound space installation, a sanctuary modeled after the Japanese tea house concept, and the Japanese therapy technique of “forest bathing”. Listen and relax to high-resolution nature sounds in the room, created by JVCKENWOOD’s KooNe technology. The sounds, which are normally inaudible to the human ear, were recorded from deep within the Japanese forests.
Yummy Treats
Step into this sound space installation, a sanctuary modeled after the Japanese tea house concept, and the Japanese therapy technique of “forest bathing”. Listen and relax to high-resolution nature sounds in the room, created by JVCKENWOOD’s KooNe technology. The sounds, which are normally inaudible to the human ear, were recorded from deep within the Japanese forests.
VR is all the rage
Look into a Virtual Reality headset and experience how an architectural designer might use it to visualise design solutions. Presented by IDA Technology, a venture started by architectural firm ID Architects, learn more about how technology and programming logic is integrated into the field of architectural design.
Intriguing Illusions
Witness the surrealistic effects created by The Mad Hatter installation, which creates an illusion of a vast universe of lights. This happens when a variety of factors come together- the three-dimensional light diffusing properties of the acrylic lamp shades, the different colours and forms of acrylic panels, and the use of mirrors to reflect light.
The Dream Office
Try out the set of furniture on display at the Play at Work installation. Featuring privacy panels with a dartboard screen, a coffee table with a roulette whiteboard, and a sofa set with a charging port, the furniture set was put together by designers from Benel and 11H, and designed to transform the homogenous look typical of most offices.
Back to Basics
Traditional techniques of weaving are used to make the contemporary furniture and objects found in the Hidden Gems installation. The showcase is a compilation of works by students from etc.lab at Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Design and Environment, under the guidance of mentors from furniture manufacturers Cellini and Djalin. You would have to look closely at the physical objects to fully appreciate the intricacies of the delicate craftsmanship.
A New Side to Discover
Last but not least, not to be missed at SingaPlural is the central pavilion, a grid structure supported by many individual strips of laminate and plywood.
The collaboration between Formica, the pioneer in laminates, and design studios PRODUCE and Superstructure, also shows how laminate can be used as a material itself, instead of its usual application to substrates such as plywood.
The best example of this is the kerfed laminate on display at the pavilion, which is laminate made flexible by making many tiny laser-cut incisions on it. To spot kerfed laminates being used, be sure to look out for the blinds in the pavilion.
