The Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) has unveiled the Urban Living Showcase on 22 Sep 2023 at FIND – Design Fair Asia, which was held at Marina Bay Sands Expo in Singapore.
The occasion was graced by the presence of guest-of-honour Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry & Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.
The Urban Living Showcase exemplifies SFIC’s vision for the local furniture industry “to be the nexus of tomorrow’s work-life integration for sustainable urban living”.
The showcase is a realisation of SFIC’s Design Innovation Programme (DIP), supported by Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), which was created to foster partnerships between furniture brands or manufacturers and designers to design, produce and launch commercially viable urban living products and solutions.
The inaugural DIP batch seeded 30 collaborations between companies or brands and designers.
The idea for the showcase arose from the industry’s transformation roadmap and also insights gathered. SFIC has identified three key focal pillars over the next three years: Market Agility, Urbanite Centricity and Enterprise Adeptness.
Mark Yong, chairman of the DIP and immediate past president of SFIC, commented: “The demand for design is stronger than ever and Singapore is not the only country that is feeling it. The DIP opens doors for international and regional collaborations and cross-cultural exchanges in the hope of generating fresh perspectives on the world that we live in.”
Urban Living Showcase
Nine collections of the DIP out of the 30 were showcased at the Urban Living Showcase. The products and solutions aim to enhance the design capabilities of Singapore-based furniture and furnishings manufacturers and brands through collaborations with Singapore-based or overseas-based designers and partners, harnessing design as an enabler for differentiation and creation.
Phua Boon Huat, the current president of SFIC, mentioned that the DIP was also borne from the fact that Singapore has been a forerunner in South East Asia’s urbanisation, and living and working spaces have become scarcer, smaller and pricier around the world.
With that in mind, the local industry is ready for internationalisation, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Phua.
Some exhibitors of the Urban Living Showcase include Mountain Living, which focuses on retailing eco-friendly wooden furniture, particularly furniture that do not lacquers.
Air Division, a furniture design house, displayed a furniture collection with oval legs and smart functions, such as hidden storages. The collection is also multi-functional, reportedly able to mix and match or expanded, ideal for when a customer moves to a bigger apartment.
Images: Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC)
