Event Details

Organised by the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg), the latest edition of Singapore Design Week 2023 will take place from 21 September to 1 October. The 11-day festival will present an extraordinary showcase of Singapore’s distinctive brand of innovative creativity while celebrating Dsg’s 20th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, SDW 2023 will adopt Dsg’s motto ‘Better by Design’ as the festival theme for this special edition.
To spotlight this bold purposeful spirit of Singapore design, local design curators Jackson Tan, co-founder and creative director of BLACK; Pann Lim, co-founder and creative director of Kinetic Singapore; Ong Ker Shing and Joshua Comaroff, co-founders of Lekker Architects will bring the Bras Basah.Bugis arts, heritage and design district to life with specially-commissioned installations that will showcase new ideas, and reflect on key issues of today from innovation to sustainability and inclusivity.
Design Districts
This year, SDW will also introduce Design Districts As a key highlight of the festival. Each district will reflect the unique character and charm of its community, and offer a wealth of immersive design experiences within walking distance. To kick off this new festival offering, SDW 2023 Design Districts will span three key precincts– Bras Basah.Bugis, Marina Bay, and Orchard Road.
Festival Pillars
Building on the festival’s distinctive and enduring vision, SDW 2023 will continue to explore design through the three defining pillars of Design Futures, Design Marketplace, and Design Impact.
Design Futures focuses on the design of the future and the future of design through the lens of forward-looking Singapore– where a more positive future is prototyped for Singapore and the world. SDW’s flagship Design Futures Symposium will take centre stage once again as it explores design-enabled versions of the future together with distinguished designers and thinkers from Singapore and around the world. Design Marketplace uncovers lifestyle trends from across the globe, with a spotlight on the fast-growing Southeast Asia region. FIND–Design Fair Asia, Asia’s largest design trade fair, will return to Marina Bay Sands for its second edition from 21 to 23 September 2023. Following its remarkable debut last year, Dsg will once again present a unique showcase dedicated to Southeast Asian contemporary design at EMERGE @ FIND. Curated by Suzy Annetta of Design Anthology, this year’s edition will feature the curatorial theme of “CRAFT + INDUSTRY: MAN + MACHINE”, with works by over 50 emerging and established designers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Design Impact inspires innovative and impactful design solutions that tackle society’s biggest questions and create a better world by design. Three key themes – Innovation, Sustainability and Inclusivity– will be celebrated through the immersive festival commission at Bras Basah.Bugis, inviting festival-goers into the Playground of Possibilities by Jackson Tan of BLACK at the National Design Centre; School of Tomorrow by Pann Lim of Kinetic at the Selegie Arts Centre, and FI&LDby OngKer-Shing and Joshua Comaroff of Lekker Architects at LASALLE College of the Arts.
Inspired by the festival theme and pillars, the local Design Community will also be presenting over 80 ground-up events ranging from exhibitions, talks and panel discussions to workshops, tours and retail pop-ups. More details of the SDW 2023 programmes will be announced in the lead-up to the festival.
“Singapore Design Week has always been about showcasing the best of design from Singapore and beyond. SDW2023 is of special significance as we celebrate Design Singapore Council’s 20th anniversary and collaborate with our trail-blazing design pioneers, and thriving design community to activate design districts at the heart of Singapore. We invite everyone to join us and experience how we can make lives ‘Better by Design’ through SDW 2023!” says Dawn Lim, Executive Director, DesignSingapore Council.