Looking to fill out your October calendar? Archifest 2021 returns with a month-long lineup of exciting events, installations, and workshops that highlights the beauty of architecture
The annual local Architectural Festival (Archifest) in Singapore returns this year from Oct 1 to Oct 31. Veering away from the usual festival approach of housing most of the activities within a single location, the month-long festival this year will see more than 100 events strategically taking place in a hybrid format across decentralised locations—whether it’s online or along various parts of the island. In accordance with current Covid-19 safe management measures, each individual event will accommodate a lower number of attendees.
Organised by the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA), Archifest is centered around the belief that beautiful designs can be found nearly everywhere. This year’s theme, Design Evidence, adopts an inquisitive attitude towards discovering how architects design and create value in today’s world.
In its 15th edition, the festival is designed to be an open and inclusive invitation that’s catered towards all ages and interest groups. There’s something for everyone—whether you’re a budding architect or a design enthusiast. Through its annual conference, interactive events, and eye-opening exhibitions, the festival aims to encourage one to delve deeper into the world of design via five key lenses: arts and culture, community and inclusivity, environment and sustainability, history and heritage, and technology and methods.
With an extensive array of creative and informative programmes, we’ve picked out some key highlights for you to catch at the festival.
1. SIA Archifest Conference
The anchor programme of Archifest is the annual main conference; held on Oct 12 to 14, the three-day event will see esteemed names across the design and architecture fields gather virtually to discuss all things design, including the future of human-centric cities, ecosystems and new technologies, how sustainability plays a notable role, and even building on other planets.
The diverse range of speakers that are based locally and worldwide include names the likes of Shanghai-based architect Rossana Hu, founding partner of renowned inter-disciplinary architectural design practice Neri&Hu; Nigerian architect Kunle Adeyemi, founder and principal of NLÉ, an Amsterdam-based architecture, design and urbanism practice; as well as architect and associate professor Ong Ker Shing, who’s the co-founder and director of homegrown practice Lekker Architects as well as the director of the BA Architecture Programme at NUS.
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