The President’s Design Award is Singapore’s highest honour accorded to designers and designs from all design disciplines. It recognises the significant contributions and achievements of an extraordinary group of people who are making a difference to the lives of Singaporeans and to the lives of the larger global community. The recipients are the standard bearers for design excellence, models for future generations of designers to match and exceed. As these standards permeate into the consciousness of society, they bring about a greater general awareness and appreciation of quality design.
The Designer of the Year award category recognises designers or design teams for their creativity and achievements in any design discipline, demonstrated by a sustained body or portfolio of works.
The Design of the Year award category recognises the national significance and creative value to Singapore of projects or products in any design discipline.
A total of 33 Designers of the Year and 76 Designs of the Year have been conferred the award from 2006 - 2014.
More information about the President’s Design Award is available at www.designsingapore.org/pda.
The vision of the DesignSingapore Council is for design to differentiate Singapore from global competition. As the national agency for design, the Council’s mission is to develop the design sector, and to help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, as well as to make life better.
The DesignSingapore Council is part of the Ministry of Communications and Information.
The National Design Centre supports the DesignSingapore Council’s efforts to enhance the vibrancy of the design ecosystem as well as catalyse industry collaborations and business opportunities for innovation and growth.
More information about the DesignSingapore Council and the National Design Centre is available at www.designsingapore.org.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is Singapore’s national land use planning and conservation authority. URA’s mission is “to make Singapore a great city to live, work and play”. We strive to create a vibrant and sustainable city of distinction by planning and facilitating Singapore’s physical development in partnership with the community.
The URA has successfully transformed Singapore into one of the most liveable cities in Asia through judicious land use planning and good urban design. We adopt a long term and comprehensive planning approach in formulating strategic plans such as the Concept Plan and the Master Plan, to guide the physical development of Singapore in a sustainable manner. Our plans and policies focus on achieving a balance between economic growth and a quality living environment. As the conservation authority, URA has an internationally recognised conservation programme, having successfully conserved not only single buildings, but entire districts.
To turn its plans and visions into reality, URA takes on a multi-faceted role. In addition to our planning function, URA is also the main government land sales agent. Through the sale of State land, we attract and channel private capital investment to develop sites to support economic and social development. As the place manager for Marina Bay, we promote exciting activities within Marina Bay in collaboration with other government agencies and private stakeholders. To create an exciting cityscape, URA also actively promotes architecture and urban design excellence.
Drawing on our experience in integrated planning and urban management, URA provides consultancy for overseas bilateral projects and shares our urban planning experience through professional training programmes.
For more information, please visit us at www.ura.gov.sg.
URA's Architecture & Urban Design Excellence (A.UDE) programme aims to promote good design in our built environment. The programme seeks to raise public awareness of good architecture and urban design and encourage a more vibrant and design-conscious community. We do this through a variety of initiatives and outreach programmes for both the general public and the industry professionals and includes exhibitions, talks, seminars, workshops and design competitions. For more information, please visit our website at www.aude.sg.
Three designers and 13 designs were honoured with the President’s Design Award for their design excellence and creative innovation in Singapore. The recipients received the award from President Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam at a ceremony held this evening at the Istana.
This year’s President’s Design Award (PDA) marks its 10th anniversary, in our nation’s 50th year of independence. It is Singapore’s most prestigious recognition of excellence across all design disciplines since its inception in 2006.
“Our nation has progressed in all sectors of society and the economy in the last 50 years. The design sector has also made phenomenal inroads in pushing the boundaries of design and contributed to the country’s development,” said Mr Robert Tomlin, Chairman, PDA 2015 Steering Committee and Chairman, DesignSingapore Council. “We are pleased to commend a record number of excellent designs for PDA 2015. This is a clear testimony that design is pervasive and surrounds our daily lives.”
The 13 awarded Designs of the Year include the world’s first innovative face mask with micro ventilators that circulate fresh air, thereby allowing users to breathe better; an artisanal side-table made without the use of a mould; and a condominium with dramatic green sky terraces that provide exclusivity and privacy. The three lauded Designers of the Year are an architect and two accredited landscape architects.
Among the ‘Design of the Year’ recipients, three were architectural projects. Mr Ng Lang, Chief Executive Officer, Urban Redevelopment Authority said: “I am encouraged by the quality of projects that our architectural and landscape design community continues to field for the Award. Design excellence combines aesthetics with good functionality and synthesis with the surrounding environment. The resulting product is unique to Singapore and reflective of our rich and multi-layered history and culture, combined with modern sensitivity and dynamism. We congratulate the recipients and look forward to many more decades of good design and designers!”
The President’s Design Award is administered by the DesignSingapore Council of the Ministry of Communications and Information, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority. There were a total of 14 jurors from seven countries, including Singapore, assessing 111 eligible nominations before making the final cut.
The profile and design description of the 16 recipients and the jury’s citations can be found in Annex A [PDF, 521kb]. More information about the jury members is available in Annex B [PDF, 475kb].
An exhibition of the President’s Design Award 2015 will be held at the National Gallery Singapore from 14 December 2015 to 3 January 2016, the URA Centre from 5 to 31 January 2016 and at the National Design Centre from 2 to 29 February 2016. Admission is free. Details about the exhibition are available in Annex C [PDF, 228kb].