Established in 1955 at the Villa Hügel in Essen, Germany, the “Ständige Schau formschöner Industrieerzeugnisse” (Permanent Show of Elegant Industrial Products) evolved over the years to become the Red Dot Design Museum. Today, the Red Dot Design Museums in Germany and Singapore present the world’s largest exhibition of contemporary design. Every of these exhibits is a winner of the international Red Dot Design Award.

Red Dot Design Museum now sits on a glass building formerly Marina Bay City Gallery

Red Dot Design Museum Singapore now sits on a glass building located at one of the most popular sites in Singapore, the Marina Bay Waterfront. The building used to be the Marina Bay City Gallery that showcase the story of Singapore’s urban transformation and the development of Marina Bay. With the museum as the new tenant, the iconic building has been given a new lease of life with clever space transformations to include several galleries, retail, cafe and outdoor seating space to host year round design exhibitions.

Red Dot Design Museum Singapore is home to the Red Dot Award for Design Concept

Notable winning works include &Y01 (electrically power-assisted wheelchair that plays music), which is a “ridable musical instrument” based on Yamaha Motor’s electric wheelchair. With the wheels built using drums and a TLF (Thin-Light-Flexible) Speaker, it transforms a user into a mobile performer. Designers from Japan contributed ideas and technologies from their respective companies to create a “ridable musical instrument” reminiscent of a white sailboat and a 1/8th musical note. Another working prototype, Halo City by Onemile Company from China is a ready-to-launch micro-electric foldable scooter and personal transportation tool which allowing users to travel effortlessly to and from bus or subway stations. It is an effective solution for “the last mile” problem in how urban citizens move around. From Singapore’s KIN Studio LLP, the KIN Wallet is the world’s first wallet that sorts out the notes from coins. Change is received together in notes and coins, leaving the receivers to sort and separate them. The wallet presents an elegant solution that keeps the woes of receiving change to rest by managing coins and cash efficiently in ways never imagined.

A glimpse into the future, design concepts explore topics on the need to rethink how we deal with urban living, user experience & interactions, work with new crafts and materials, to even product services which are future enablers.

Every year, international expert panels of Red Dot jury decide which product designs, communication designs and design concepts will be on display at the museum. They test, discuss and assess the innovative design quality based on stringent design criteria. The jury will ultimately decide which designs have earned the Red Dot seal of quality, thus a place in the museum.

Red Dot Design Museum is now open to visitors along the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade with its museum galleries, shop and the design cafe & bar open from 11am till 2am daily.

Admission: Singapore Citizens – Free or pay as you wish; Non Singapore Citizens – $6.00
Venue: Red Dot Design Museum, 11 Marina Boulevard, Singapore 018940