Critical of / for what?

This project embarks on an investigation of what it means to teach, learn, and practice criticality in design. Set against the backdrop of a neoliberal economic system and an industry constantly disrupted by emerging technologies, it takes a deep dive into the tension between education and professional practice. It examines how design, as a field increasingly seen as crucial to navigating the future, is being redefined—and whether “criticality” is being nurtured or neglected along the way.

Prior to the Fellowship, initiators Candice Ng, Justin Zhuang and Vanessa Ban had conducted interviews with 12 local educators and designers on this topic. The Fellowship supported the organisation of an invite-only panel discussion, hosted at the SAM residency spaces, to further explore the role of criticality in Singapore design practices and how it is taught in local design schools. The primary goal of the event was to foster dialogue between industry and academia and encourage a shared understanding and vocabulary to advance the teaching, learning and practice of criticality within contemporary design practice.

➜ Read more about the project at the SAM Design Collection website

 

Nests: An Ode to Domesticity

“We understand the each nest as a living organism that includes the people, the places and the things that inhabit it as well as the daily rituals of its maintenance in a specific context. In this sense, the domestic space is not a static and inert thing. It is the place where life happens, where a lot of effort and work must occur in order to reenact life day after day.” — Manuel and Isabelle

Over the last 20 years, Manuel and Isabelle Der Hagopian have lived between Singapore, Vietnam, and Switzerland. The couple have built various dwellings in each location to house their lives and redefine their domesticity as a fundamental need. Each ‘nest’ arises from intimate conversations between them and the spaces, giving birth to meticulously crafted spaces and lovingly curated interiors echoing with the spirit of the local culture.

In a dialogue between regional influences and their own tastes, seamlessly integrated with Modernist spatiality, the dwellings reflect the pairs voracious curiosity for the spirit of the places they live in. They strip architecture to its most elemental to reveal its raw emotions hidden within, questioning contemporary standards of domesticity and comfort, bringing to life an intimate relationship with each setting and infusing the space a unique sense of belonging. Each is also filled with possessions, including found objects and antique furniture collected from years of travelling, transforming these abodes into biographies of the couple’s lives.

Nests features six of these dwellings—Seng Poh, TB80, Bi Khi Ni, Thi Sach, Beaumont and Diablay De—as seen through the lens of Khoo Guo Jie. The photographer’s images of the life and love that imbue these spaces are curated into booklets that are designed to express the unique character and materiality of each nest. Together, they weave a voyage across different habitats and offer an introspective journey back home, in all the senses.

➜ Read the essays and view the homes in Nests: An Ode to Domesticity

 

 

People of Singapore Design

Over the years,  I’ve been commissioned by the DesignSingapore Council to profile emerging and leading figures in the country’s design industry. The stories are primarily to showcase the national design agency’s programmes. But they have also been opportunities to learn more about the works and ethos of these practitioners. Here are a selection of articles: