Threading Tomorrow

Future Impact 3: Design Nation, Singapore's showcase at Milan Design Week 2025, charted the Republic's emergence as a Nation by Design through three compelling acts: reflecting on its past, responding to the present, and reimagining the future

- ASIH JENIE

Leave it to Singapore to turn a cathedral into a case study in national imagination. Set within the soaring nave of Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache—a vaulted church in Milan's Cinque Vie district, once part of a Benedictine convent, now a quietly resonant venue at which sacred architecture often meets contemporary design—Future Impact 3: Design Nation marked Singapore's 2025 return to Milan Design Week with thoughtful ambition. It is one of the many celebrations taking place this year to mark the nation’s 60th birthday,

Curated by returning duo Tony Chambers and Maria Cristina Didero, with a new associate, Singaporean designer Hunn Wai, the exhibition was structured in three parts that represent Singapore's design journey across time: Little Island of Brave Ideas revisits design’s role in nation-building; Future Impact captures current responses to contemporary challenges; and Virtuoso Visionaires projects future possibilities through the work of emerging talents.

ICONIC PAST