EYE ON SINGAPORE DESIGN

What sparks the world’s top design minds? We ask three judges at the 2025 President's Design Award Singapore what gave them pause and got them thinking about homegrown design.

- Alvin Wong

IN SINGAPORE, DESIGN has evolved into something that is more than a surface affair. Beneath the city’s pristine edges and meticulously zoned skylines lies a profound ambition—one that not only seeks beauty or glamour, but also connection and consequence.

For this year’s President’s Design Award (PDA) Singapore in August—conferred by the president of Singapore and jointly administered by DesignSingapore Council and the Urban Redevelopment Authority—a panel, comprising 15 internationally renowned jurors, was tasked with evaluating the country’s most forward-thinking design work across all disciplines. Their reflections reveal a city that sees design not merely as decoration, but as a way to shape culture, systems, and how people relate to one another.

“I was interested in how a design can affect the whole system of human activity, including a boost to local businesses, increased trade and interaction, social connections, and the building of genuine relationship-led networks,” says Michela Magas, London-based innovation strategist and founder of MTF Labs, on her judging criteria.

Magas believes that Singaporean designers create sustainable distribution frameworks that extend well beyond product innovation. “I see Singapore as an open space for collaboration between local and global intelligence and expertise, aiming for quality implementations of innovations and creative ideas,” she says.

Voon Wong, creative director of Viewport Studio, a multidisciplinary practice with studios in London and Singapore, was encouraged by the emphasis on impact—a judging criterion that was introduced in 2018.

“What differentiated these works from others is that they not only demonstrated design thinking but also convinced us that the end result positively impacted the people who consume and experience the end-product,” he says.