Chris Lee

Chris Lee leads multidisciplinary studio Asylum, which has garnered over 100 international awards to date. In 2009, Lee also took home Singapore’s prestigious President’s Design Award for ’Designer of the Year’.

Describe your studio.

Our studio does serious work, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

What’s your dream project – real or imaginary?

I would love to create and curate an art museum one day. That way I can be surrounded by art without owning them!

What’s your number one concern for the design scene in Singapore?

There are too many graduates every year and the industry is unable to absorb these young designers. We should reduce the number and have better quality instead.

theasylum.com.sg / Read the full story

Kelley Cheng

Kelley Cheng is an award-winning editor and creative force behind publishing and design consultancy The Press Room.

Describe your team.

I have a team of very talented designers and editors. I tend to choose people with different strengths so that as a studio, we can collaborate and complement each other. Most importantly, I always look for people with great personalities. Since we have to spend so much time together, I would like to work with nice and humorous people.

Name your favourite local landmark/building.

 I wish they had kept the National Theatre on River Valley Road. I think it is a truly iconic building. Most of all, I have a lot of memories of the place as I used to participate in a lot of on-the-spot art competitions there when I was young, and my parents used to bring me there to watch Teochew opera. I like buildings with personal memories (whether they are my memories or others’). Without memories, buildings are just empty shells that house things; they have no soul.

What are your pet peeves?

When I check through my designers’ work, I really get annoyed when they don’t pay attention to alignment. I also get all itchy and irritated with bad proportions and lousy compositions.

thepressroom.com.sg / Read the full story

Plystudio

Plystudio’s Victor Lee and Jacqueline Yeo operate within the inter-related fields of interiors, architecture and urbanism; they constantly seek to question prevailing types and redefine typological constructs in the work they do.

Name your top 3 influences.

Cities, culture, clothing.

Name your favourite international landmark/building.

We have always been inspired by dense cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo where the inherent landforms and planning instruments of the city result in surprising urban experiences.

What’s your number 1 concern for the design scene in Singapore?

A lack of a critical audience.

ply-studio.com / Read the full story

Grace Tan

In her inter-disciplinary practice, Kwodrent, Grace Tan works on projects that bridge the gap between design, architecture, art and fashion.

Name your favourite local landmark/building.

I don’t have a favourite building but I like the juxtaposition of nature and the built environment. My favourite ’spot’ is a little pedestrian bridge on the Bukit Timah canal near Newton Circus. The image of overhanging trees along the canal is rather magical.

Which is your favourite decade of design?

The 2010s because we are part of it and making things happen, especially here in Singapore.

What’s your number 1 concern for the design scene in Singapore?

Preservation of craft and how it can work with technology.

kwodrent.com / Read the full story

Outofstock

Outofstock is a design collective made up of Gabriel Tan and Wendy Chua from Singapore, Gustavo Maggio from Argentina and Sebastián Alberdi from Spain. The team believes in “an honest approach to materials and visual form”.

Name your top 3 influences.

Bauhaus, Alvar Aalto and the Bouroullec brothers.

Who’s your dream person to collaborate with?

An astronaut.

What’s the most interesting thing about the way you work?

We work out of different cities, up to 4 at one point in time. The different time zones, geographical locations and cultural identities define the work we do, our love for travel and our approach to design.

outofstockdesign.com / Read the full story

FARM

FARM is a cross-disciplinary design practice, a curatorial team, a community-centred arts organisation… the studio actively collaborates with artists and designers on a diverse range of projects, including architecture and interior design, product design and merchandising, graphic design and branding, art installation and sculpture, exhibition design, and more.

Describe your design philosophy.

We would like to cultivate a culture of imagination, and underpinning all we do is a belief that joyful creativity is essential in all our lives.

Who’s your dream person to collaborate with?

Akira Kurosawa, an Asian icon and a creative genius.

What’s the most unusual/interesting thing about the way you work?

Having various design disciplines in the one office means you’re always talking to people of different backgrounds. This throws up interesting ways of looking at problems.

farm.sg / Read the full story