Exploring inclusive design at Singapore Design Week 2023

Walk through the festival highlights with executive director of DesignSingapore Council Dawn Lim and design duo Lekker Architects.

Held from September 21 to October 1, Singapore Design Week 2023 offered a dynamic showcase of creativity and innovation under the theme Better by Design, with designers and innovators providing a glimpse into a sustainable, tech-driven and socially responsible design future.

Relive the event with WGSN Executive Editorial Director Bethan Ryder, who talks about the festival highlights with Dawn Lim, executive director of DesignSingapore Council. We also speak to Ong Ker-Shing and Dr Joshua Comaroff, aka Lekker Architecture who are behind FI&LD, a project that promotes inclusivity through play. 

The Lekker Architects duo also touch on their recent publication, Hack Care: Tips and Tricks for a Dementia-Friendly Home, inspired by furniture giant IKEA, which has won the Singapore President’s Design Award 2023 for its innovative approach to enhancing the quality of life for individuals with dementia.

Better by design

“The theme exemplifies what Singapore design stands for, which is the desire to always look for ways to make lives better using design. I’m a firm believer that good design is good business, good design is good government, and good design makes lives better.”
– Dawn Lim, executive director, DesignSingapore Counci

Intentional and inclusive thinking

“It’s a simple but deep and rich way of thinking about how to think inclusively: if somebody can’t join, you have to change the game. The ampersand in FI&LD is that we want people to think about inclusion from the standpoint of more. It’s about how bringing in more people with different needs allows us to imagine the world and design in a different and meaningful way that will push us towards creative and challenging and innovative solutions.”
– Joshua Comaroff, design consultant, Lekker Architects

Pioneering adaptive solutions 

“We think about homes as reflections of ourselves, but we very rarely are able to adapt when there is a serious medical issue. We tend to turn to buying appliances and equipment that are clearly medical and not really understand our houses as being able to adapt to us and our changing needs. The book really tries to put that forward, that it’s not hacking, it’s really this incremental tweaking.”
– Ong Ker-Shing, director, Lekker Architects

Head to Anchor, Apple or Spotify to hear the full discussion on our Create Tomorrow podcast episode, Exploring Inclusive Design with Lekker Architects at Singapore Design Week.