SINGAPORE — A vision of the future — that is what 10 top designers and 10 illustrators were tasked to imagine, and then present, for Singaplural 2017.

The event’s main showcase is Tomorrow: Design Stories of Our Future, an exhibition of graphic works from President’s Design Award winners as well as illustrators. They tapped into their ideas of the future, and their works showcase the design products Singaporeans might see and use in the year 2065.

Illustrator Ng Xin Nie’s work — a collaboration with President’s Design Award-winner Nathan Yong titled Relax — portrays shelf-like structures with people squeezed in and napping together. In 2065, Ng imagines a “pressurised world” in which one will find it a challenge to “carve out time and space to relax”.

“I hoped to show (a world where) napping in public would be acceptable,” she said.

Chris Chai, an illustrator and artist, worked with advertising and design firm Kinetic Singapore to imagine a world of “instant demands”. Their work, Edible Matter, showcases items such as pig legs, prawns and sushi in the process of being transformed into food at the speed of thought in a Zodiac-like chart.

“Clearly ... I’m a bit of a science fiction nerd,” Chai said.

The anchor event of Singapore Design Week, Singaplural opened yesterday at the F1 Pit Building. SingaPlural 2017 is themed Stories – A New Perspective, and features more than 100 exhibits and design works.

“We (intend) to share the thought processes behind creative minds and showcase the many applications of design on everything — from traditional crafts to the latest brands and cutting-edge digital gadgets,” said Mark Yong, president of the Singapore Furniture Industries Council and chairman of SingaPlural. In attendance at the event’s opening was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing.

“In Singapore’s pursuit to move towards a higher value-added economy, design will be an enabler for innovation and growth,” said Mr Chan.

The SingaPlural 2017 showcase also features project collaborations between local and global designers, and brands.

Design bigwigs such as Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell of WoHa as well as Colin Seah, design director at Ministry of Design, teamed up with Japan’s Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry for the Kyo Project. It marks 50 years of established diplomatic relations between Japan and Singapore.

The project involved children’s playsets, designer whiskey glasses and textile prints being created by the designers as well as Japanese craftsmen.

Seah, 45, said the main objective of the SingaPlural designs was to “draw deeply from traditional craft techniques, but to subvert and disrupt convention by putting a contemporary spin on the end product”.

He hopes visitors can see that traditional craftwork is part of Singapore’s living heritage, and that it can adapt to the age of technology and automation. “But to do so, it must have one foot rooted in the past, and the other in the future,” he added.

The WoHa team collaborated with its Japanese counterparts to produce duvets with kimono prints, as well as Hinoki-wood beds and baby cribs.

Wong, 54, said that “the (Japanese) craftsmen we worked with ... create beautiful things with skill, patience and care, and the objects are timeless pieces”.

“Their craft has been handed down through the generations ... This kind of dedication is something we want to reflect in our designs: To create beautiful and timeless pieces by marrying traditional crafts with contemporary designs,” he said.

Two local design studios, Machineast and Roots, also worked with Japan’s Uniqlo on an exhibit that showcases the technology behind the apparel brand’s innovative Airism clothing.

The organisers say that Singaplural’s focus on the future is partly due to the fact that millennials make up much of the event’s fan base. The event attracted 28,000 visitors last year.

“One of our pillars, Platform, which features up-and-coming designers aged 35 and below, truly speaks to millennials aspiring to embark on a career in design,” he said.

SingaPlural 2017 runs until March 12, from 11am to 10pm at the F1 Pit Building Level 3 (1 Republic Blvd). Tickets cost $10 each and are available at the venue (cash payments only). Singapore citizens and permanent residents aged 12 years and below, or 60 years and up, as well as Singaporean students, can enter for free. Visit www.singaplural.com for more info.