The second edition of Design Futures Forum during Singapore Design Week will bring thought leaders and practitioners together for a two-day programme of insightful talks and sessions around sustainability, technology and systems of care.
Taking place between 1-2 October at Singapore’s Victoria Theatre and The Arts House, this year’s iteration of Design Futures Forum zooms in on the theme ‘Designing our Collective Future’. Organized by national agency DesignSingapore Council, the newly expanded event – part of Singapore Design Week – comprises two days of keynotes, presentations, panel discussions and interactive sessions led by inspiring creatives, innovators and pioneers from all over the world.
The driving mission behind Design Futures Forum is to explore how design can benefit sustainability, technology and health and care in shaping shared, resilient futures. Reflecting the essence of her topic and the digital age, tech futurist Cathy Hackl, otherwise known as the ‘Godmother of the Metaverse', kicks off the event online with a keynote on AI, spatial technologies and gaming – and what implications their convergence will have on our lives. Lyra Ventures’ Debra Langley, Duolingo’s Megan Bednarczyk, GitHub’s Tobias Ahlin and Questo CEO Alex Govoreanu are among those who will carry the Emerging Technologies conversation forward. They’ll cover topics like augmented and virtual reality, 3D software development, digital accessibility and more.
From left to right: Aric Chen (Het Nieuwe Instituut), Mitchell Joachim (Terreform ONE), Leong Tatt Man (Tierra Design Studio), Ying Seow (Houses of Parliament Restoration & Renewal), Boonserm Premthada (Bangkok Project Studio), Wendy Chua (Forest and Whale) and Dr Chris Lim (National University Hospital) are Design Futures Forum's Sustainability experts.
From left to right: Claudia Poh (Werable), Wong Hon Tym (National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Centre for Healthcare Innovation), Proud Patanavanich (MedPark Hospital), Jeanne Tan (Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence in Design), Tamsin Greulich-Smith (School of X) and Maria Del Pilar Diaz Gonzalez (MAS Holdings) represent the Care team for Design Futures Forum.
Discussing environmental and social sustainability and regenerative design is also a major part of the agenda. Visitors can expect to learn from talks by Het Nieuwe Instituut general and creative director Aric Chen, Thai architect Boonserm Premthada, Forest and Whale’s Wendy Chua and Dr Ying Seow, who leads the sustainability strategy for the UK's Parliament Restoration and Renewal Programme, to name a few. Meanwhile, the Care pillar – targeting the democratization of health and wellbeing – will be led by Tamsin Greulich-Smith and local organization School of X, with experts joining to facilitate co-creation activities and team debates that inspire design-forward interventions.
‘By bringing together thought leaders, designers, and innovators from all over the world, the Design Futures Forum is actively encouraging our participants to inspire change in their own spheres of influence, says Dawn Lim, executive director of DesignSingapore Council. ‘Being a forward-looking city, we believe we can drive conversations and foster collaborations to design a shared future that is more sustainable, technologically ethical and healthier for everyone.’
Get your tickets for Design Futures Forums now.
