Singapore Design Week 2025 Explores the Future with Bold Visions and Radical Ideas

Singapore Design Week (SDW) 2025 returns from 11 to 21 September, marking SG60 with the theme “Nation by Design.” This year’s edition celebrates the city-state’s design journey while looking boldly ahead, spotlighting how design can respond to the urgent challenges of tomorrow. Anchored by three major events: the Design Futures Forum, Another World is Possible at ArtScience Museum, and Sausage of the Future: Singapore Edition.

Braving Complexities at the Design Futures Forum

A festival highlight, the Design Futures Forum returns for its third edition on 17 September 2025 at Victoria Theatre. Co-curated by Aric Chen (Director, Zaha Hadid Foundation) and Ong Ker-Shing (Co-founder, Lekker Architects), the one-day event takes on the theme “Braving Complexities”, exploring the intersections of sustainability, climate change, emerging technologies, social equity, and care.

The speaker line-up includes:

• Liam Young, filmmaker whose speculative works confront urgent environmental questions
• Theodoric Chew, CEO of Intellect, Asia Pacific’s largest employee mental health platform
• Dr Ayesha Khanna, founder of 21C Girls, an education initiative in AI and coding
• Thomas Thwaites, author of The Toaster Project and Goatman
• Chat Chuenrudeemol, Thai architect documenting Bangkok’s street vernacular
• Alice Bucknell, artist whose video games dissolve human-versus-nature binaries
• Adi Reza, CEO of biotech start-up MYCL and Earthshot Prize 2024 finalist

Beyond talks, participants can expect an immersive networking experience by local agency OuterEdit, with thematic food and experiences co-created with Fogo Fungi and agri-tech start-up Singrow.

Speculative Futures at ArtScience Museum

Opening 13 September 2025, the ArtScience Museum presents Another World is Possible, co-curated with filmmaker Liam Young. The exhibition spans architecture, design, literature, and cinema, assembling over 100 works from nearly 40 contributors, including 16 Singapore-based creatives. Highlights include WOHA’s vertical biodiverse cities and Finbarr Fallon’s reimagining of the Singapore Flyer. Together, these works envision hopeful, equitable, and sustainable futures through a distinctly Singapore lens.

Food Reimagined – Sausage of the Future

On a lighter and tastier note, food designer Carolien Niebling brings her acclaimed project Sausage of the Future to Asia for the first time with the Singapore Edition. Opening 11 September 2025 at NAFA Fashion Gallery, the showcase investigates sustainability, biodiversity, and food security through experimental sausages inspired by local ingredients, created in collaboration with Huber’s Butchery, The Meatery, and food creative Nithiya Laila (Brunch Bandits). Visitors can also sample these innovative bites during Bras Basah.Bugis Friday Late on 12 September.

Design Community in Action

Throughout the 11-day festival, studios and corporates will host Design Community events exploring the future of design in everyday life. Highlights include:

• Futures Feast by design studio Chemistry, serving Singapore’s future through a dining experience
• Equitech Collective’s regional gathering, spotlighting hyperlocal design for equity and resilience
• Grab’s open house, discussing how design drives innovation under the theme “Future by Design”

Key Dates

• Design Futures Forum: 17 Sep 2025, Victoria Theatre – Event Link
• Another World is Possible: 13 Sep 2025 – 22 Feb 2026, ArtScience Museum – Event Link
• Sausage of the Future: Singapore Edition: 11 Sep – 19 Oct 2025, NAFA Fashion Gallery – Event Link