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President’s Design Awards 2018: Recognising The Impact Of Design

The revamped President’s Design Award programme bestowed accolades to a total of 11 recipients from diverse fields that have demonstrated their impact on the living environment.

President’s Design Awards 2018: Recognising The Impact Of Design

China Fuzhou Jin Niu Shan Trans-Urban Connector. Photo by Zhou Yue Dong

Established in 2006 and jointly organised by the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the President’s Design Award (PDA) took a bold move last year by revamping its annual format to a biennial cycle (read more about the revamp here). This revamp was aimed to enable the programme to place greater emphasis on outcome-based design impact, in addition to the existing criteria of excellence in design craftsmanship.

The revamped PDA retains its longstanding two-category format – the Designer of the Year and the Design of the Year categories – and categorises its jury into two panels, the Architecture Panel and the Design Panel.

Held on 17 July, this year’s gala at the Istana saw President Halimah Yacob presenting the award to two Designers of the Year and nine Designs of the Year recipients. The winning eleven entries were picked from a total of 131 eligible entries – 24 for Designer of the Year category and 107 for Design of the Year category. A total of six designers and two architects were shortlisted for the Designer of the Year award while the Design of the Year award shortlisted 23 design projects and 14 architectural projects.

“The 2018 PDA recipients represent what we advocate for design in Singapore – an exceptional form of human-centric creativity that goes far beyond aesthetics,” said Dsg Executive Director Mark Wee. “Singapore has always tapped the power of design to meet many challenges we face as a small island nation. The recipients embody this spirit of transforming and improving lives, businesses, society and even the world through design.”

The Designers of the Year are:

Angelene Chan, CEO of DP Architects 

Angelene Chan. Portrait by Juliana Tan, courtesy of DP Architects

 

Hans Tan, founder of Hans Tan Studio

Singapore Blue by Hans Tan. Photo by Khoo Guo Jie / Studio Periphery

 

Chan was awarded the accolade for her work in architecture (lookout for our Q&A with her soon!) while Tan was awarded for his work in product and industrial design.

 

In addition to the eleven award recipients, the jury also commended lighting designer Toh Yah Li, Partner at Light Collab, for her work in lighting design.

Toh Yah Li. Portrait courtesy of Light Collab

 

Candidates for tge Designer of the Year category were evaluated on their design philosophy; innovation and originality; leadership in their disciplines; and portfolio of works that have demonstrated impact on contemporary life and living environment, and have social and national significance as well as a value as icons.

 

 

The Designs of the Year recipients are:

 

The Architecture Panel

Mediacorp Campus by Maki & Associates and DP Architects

Photo by Future Stage Creations

 

Oasia Hotel Downtown by WOHA Architects

Photo by Patrick Bingham-Hall

 

China Fuzhou Jin Niu Shan Trans-Urban Connector by LOOK Architects

Photo by Zhou Yue Dong

 

The Tembusu by ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism

Photo by Darren Soh

 

The Design Panel

Changi Airport Terminal 4 by Changi Airport Group

(Interior Design, Engineering Design, Systems Design, Experience Design, Product & Industrial Design, Service Design, UX/UI Design, Landscape Design, Design Strategy & Management) 

Photo courtesy of Changi Airport T4

 

The Future of Us Pavilion  by Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)

(Exhibition Design and Engineering Design)

Photo by Koh Sze Kiat / Oddinary Studios

 

The Warehouse Hotel by Asylum Creative

(Interior Design and Visual Communication Design)

Photo by The Warehouse Hotel

 

weatherHYDE by billionBricks

(Product & Industrial Design)

Photo by billionBricks

 

Who Cares? Transforming the Caregiving Experience in Singapore by fuelfor design and consulting

(Design Strategy & Management, Systems Design, Experience Design and Service Design)

Photo by fuelfor

Candidates for the Design of the Year category were evaluated on the innovation and originality in design ethos; design research; aesthetics and craftsmanship; and impact in one (or more) of these four areas: enabling economic transformation; raising quality of life; advancing Singapore’s brand, culture and community; and ground-breaking design achievements. 

Visit PDA’s official page for more information!

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