From September 11 to 21, 2025, Singapore will celebrate 60 years of independence with the theme Nation by Design, featuring exhibitions, installations, talks, and renowned international figures
Singapore Design Week 2025 marks a historic milestone: a festival celebrating 60 years of the country’s independence and its journey as an UNESCO Creative City of Design. Organized by the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg), the event centers around the theme Nation by Design, which is at the heart of a program that combines memory, innovation, and future vision.
From September 11 to 21, the city prepares to tell its story through design, transforming into a widespread stage of installations, events, immersive experiences, and creative forums.
Unnatural History Museum: reinventing the past
What to expect from this new edition? First of all, at the National Design Centre, the creative Pann Lim, co-founder of Kinetic Singapore, will create the Unnatural History Museum of Singapore. An exhibition that reinterprets 60 years of city development through a six-meter-high Merlion “fossil,” hybrid landscapes, and technological creatures like cyborg cockroaches, developed in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University, HTX, and Klass Engineering & Solutions.
Food design and sustainability: The Sausage of the Future
At the NAFA Fashion Gallery, Dutch designer Carolien Niebling will present The Sausage of the Future: Singapore Edition. A humorous research project exploring food design and the challenges of food sustainability, featuring four innovative sausages made with local ingredients and anatomical models that blend aesthetics and functionality.
Singapore Design Week 2025: four design districts, one identity
The 2025 edition expands the festival into four main districts:
- Bras Basah.Bugis, the cultural heart of the city;
- Marina Design District, with the theme Design for Care, curated by architect Randy Chan. Here, you’ll find an inclusive playground for neurodivergent children and the Design Pavilion at Millenia Walk;
- Orchard Design District, involving SCAPE and Somerset Belt with the Open Design Dialogue (ODD) project, curated by Jerry Goh of Grain Studio;
- Singapore Science Park, the big new feature of 2025, with the theme REINVENTION. Curated by OuterEdit and CapitaLand Development, it hosts installations and prototypes of innovation by global brands like DENSO, KONE, and Merck.
Design Futures Forum and FIND – Design Fair Asia
During Singapore Design Week, on September 17 at the Victoria Theatre, the Design Futures Forum will take place. Curated by Aric Chen (Zaha Hadid Foundation) and Ong Ker-Shing (Lekker Architects), the forum will explore the role of design in global sustainability and technology challenges.
From September 11 to 13, Marina Bay Sands will host the fourth edition of FIND – Design Fair Asia. Over 300 international brands and 60 design leaders will create a meeting point between East and West, focusing on hospitality, architecture, and interior design. EMERGE @ FIND, curated by Edwin Low of Supermama and Suzy Annetta of Design Anthology, will also return, showcasing over 100 projects by 70 emerging designers from across Asia.
Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION
After its success at Milan Design Week 2025, the exhibition Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION will also be back at the National Museum of Singapore. Co-curated by Hunn Wai (Lanzavecchia + Wai), Tony Chambers, and Maria Cristina Didero, it will explore how design improves contemporary life through a series of interactive installations.
Side Events and Community Design
Finally, during Singapore Design Week 2025, there will be a special edition of the Singapore River Festival and a series of “after-hours” activities on weekends, with the Friday Late format. Over 60 local partners will animate the city with talks, workshops, and pop-ups, celebrating collective creativity.
