Photo by AIRLAB

The National Design Centre (NDC) continues to push the frontiers of design and sustainability as it moves from examining zero waste to exploring circularity, emerging technologies and potential solutions with its new exhibition, Circular Futures: Next Gen.

Curated and produced by digital art start-up Artacia, Circular Futures: Next Gen fuses technology, research, innovation and creativity. It presents a series of unique 3D printed art works by Architecture Intelligence Research Lab (AIRLAB) alongside designs by the graduate students of research laboratory, formAxioms, at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

To fabricate these art works such as chandeliers, stools, vertical farm structures and floating farm pods, more than 150kg of plastic waste made up of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) transparent bottles were upcycled into 3D printing filament. Part of this plastic waste was collected from the smart Reverse Vending Machines under the Recycle N Save initiative by F&N Foods and the National Environment Agency (NEA).

In addition, the exhibition showcases speculative designs from the graduate students of formAxioms@SUTD who created novel infrastructures and solutions for climate change, specifically in response to rising sea levels.

Visitors can interact with these designs by using a Virtual Reality (VR) headset to experience the possibilities of technology in designing a better future underpinned by principles of sustainability and circularity.

Complementing the exhibition further are four manufacturing workshops by AIRLAB focusing on a new material that combines bamboo and biodegradable 3D printed components as well as lectures by the graduate students of formAxioms@SUTD. These sessions are free and open to the public.

Venue: National Design Centre, 111 Middle Road, Singapore 188969

When: 9 Jan - 9 Apr 2023, 9am - 9pm

By: National Design Centre (NDC)