Top Image: Furniture Design Award 2014 – Judging Session

Launched in 1993, formerly known as the Furniture Design Competition, the 22nd edition of the Furniture Design Award (FDA) returns, taking on a ‘free style’ approach where designers are invited to showcase their creativity without restraint. Unlike its previous years, the submission call would revolve a single entry format – the Designers category opened to participants across all backgrounds, including professionals and design students.

“By eliminating previous restrictions on age and background, we wish to encourage participation from the younger generation, and provide these budding young designers with opportunities to kickstart their career in furniture design,” shares Mr Mark Yong, Vice President of SFIC and Chairman of Design Development.

Furniture Design Award 2014: Grand Award Winner (Students Category), Jexter Lim and his submission, Nishikigo

The jury panel for 2016 will consist of local industry leaders such as Patrick Chia as Chief Juror and Colin Seah, as well as international names such as Jurgen Bey (The Netherlands); Shin Azumi (United Kingdom); Prof. Byungkil Kang (South Korea) and Tony Chang (Taiwan) – a great exposure altogether for the participant.

Furniture Design Award 2014 – Judging Session

Entries will be judged based on four main criteria: degree of innovation and originality; marketability for commercialisation; functionality from handling to usability and product feasibility; and environmental awareness, accessing choice of material, source and wastage level.

“A well-designed furniture piece is more than just form or shape; the winning combination is something that balances environmental and business sustainability with how users aspire to live. I expect to see entries that demonstrate a certain depth of thinking in this edition of FDA,” says chief juror, Patrick Chia.

Furniture Design Award 2014: Grand Award Winner (Designers Category), Clement Zheng and his submission, Torus Lamp

The prize money has also been doubled to SGD$20,000. Besides that, winning entries will be showcased at the annual design festival, SingaPlural 2016, held in conjunction with the International Furniture Fair Singapore 2016/ 33rd ASEAN Furniture Show, The Décor Show, and Hospitality 360⁰.

Timeline
Registration period: 10 March – 10 August 2015
Preliminary Judging (Round 1): 20 August – 31 August 2015
Judging Interview (Round 2): 8 October 2015
Final Judging (Round 3): mid-March 2016

Fees
SGD$50 for local and locally-based (Singapore) designers
USD$60 for international entries

For more information on Furniture Design Award 2015, and to submit your entries, visit furnituredesignaward.sg.