Singapore Design Awards 2024/2025: Project Bridging Generational Gaps by Pairing At-risk Youth with Retired Seniors Crowned with Top Prize

The Singapore Design Awards 2024/2025, organised by the Design Business Chamber Singapore (DBCS) in collaboration with the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), has announced its grand winner, celebrating innovative designs that address pressing challenges faced by Singaporean youth.

This year’s theme, Healing Hearts, Designing Our Futures, highlighted the transformative power of design in fostering connections, mental well-being, and social inclusion among young people.

The award ceremony held at 10 Square, Orchard Central, saw Roots & Wings, a project by Liang Yanjie and Chang Mei Yee, take home the top prize.

The initiative bridges generational gaps by pairing at-risk youth with retired seniors through photographic storytelling. By using photography as a medium for dialogue, the project fosters emotional connections and inspires positive societal engagement among young participants.

This year’s awards focused on leveraging design to tackle issues such as mental health, family instability, and educational disengagement. Finalists were selected based on criteria like empathy, inspiration, and impact, reflecting DBCS’s commitment to advancing design as a force for social good. Each finalist received a S10,000 seed grant and mentorship from industry experts to refine their prototypes. The grand winner was awarded an additional S20,000 to further develop their project.

Chee Su Eing, President of DBCS, emphasised the role of design in addressing societal challenges: “Design has the extraordinary capacity to reimagine solutions for the youth of today, who will become the leaders of Singapore’s tomorrow. This year’s finalists have proven that design can be a transformative force in nurturing connections and empowering individuals.”

Among the standout finalists vying for the grand prize then was Makan, Already Anot? by Jamie Loh and team, which reimagined shared family mealtimes by redesigning home spaces to encourage meaningful interactions. The project aims to help youth address family dynamics and build lifelong bonding skills during their formative years.

Another notable entry was Unwinding Map by Hsing-Ying Chuang and Fauzia Ramadhani, a mindful walking application designed to help users manage stress. The project introduces co-created maps and observer cards as non-clinical stress-coping techniques, providing youth with accessible tools to improve their mental well-being.

Since its inception in 1988 by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew during the first Singapore International Design Forum, the Singapore Design Awards has been a platform for celebrating visionary designers and their contributions to society.

This year’s edition, supported by NCSS, continues to validate the importance of collaboration between the design and social service sectors.