Furniture Design Award Competition Requesting Entries

Furniture World News

The Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) invites designers to soar into the unknown and break new ground in furniture design for the upcoming annual Furniture Design Award (FDA). Now open for applications and design submissions, the theme for 2006 entitled “FLY” encourages participants in the Students & Young Designers category to cross creative and cultural boundaries, and produce innovative concepts that are truly in a class of its own. “We want to encourage and create an environment where excellent designs are valued and creative talents recognised. Compared to previous years, the theme for FDA 2006 will give participants more free play and allow them greater breadth of space and freedom to exercise their creativity. We want them to fly and venture into the unknown. Unless you shake off all preconceptions and flap your wings, you will never know how high you can fly,” said Mr Simon Ong, Chairman of the Design Development Committee for the SFIC. The annual FDA has grown to become an effective launch pad for talented Asian designers, especially first-timers, as it presents individuals with prospects of networking with industry players to gain an intimate knowledge of the market as well as to spearhead their careers. To date, FDA has produced many industry successes. Among them, Jeremy Ong, the Gold Award winner of the 1999, 2002 and 2004 FDA Young Designers Category, is today the Co-founder and Design Director of Designscale 1:3. Adrian Chua, Merit Award winner of the 1993, 1995 and 1997 FDA Young Designers Category, not only co-founded and designs for SevenVine, his line of club furniture was also showcased at the exclusive Salone De Mobili in Milan in 2004. Mr Andrew Pang, Chairman of the FDA 2006 Organising Committee and a past FDA award winner, said: “Having been involved in the FDA over the years, it is easy to see how the competition has steered the careers of many aspiring designers. As I have benefited immensely from these exchanges myself, I want to do my part to support and grow the FDA which has the potential to transform the global design scene.” The FDA 2006 consists of three categories: Students Category: Open to full time students in any local tertiary institution, art institution, junior college, pre-university or secondary school; Young Designers Category: Open to Asia Pacific citizens, permanent residents and those on work permit below the age of 35 as at 1 March 2006; Open Category: Open to participants from all over the world on a company basis, with entries having been manufactured and launched commercially in the market. Entries in this category need not be confined to the theme. Entries to FDA 2006 will be judged by prominent industry personalities and reputable commercial designers on their creativity, marketability and functionality. Entries for the Students and Young Designers categories will also be judged on their interpretation of the theme. The closing date for the Students and Young Designers categories is on 30 September 2005 and the Open Category is on 1 December 2005. The finals will be held on 28 February 2006. Results will be announced on 1 March 2006. FDA 2006 will be held in conjunction with one of Asia’s premiere design-led furniture trade exhibition – the annual International Furniture Fair Singapore 2006/23rd ASEAN Furniture Show (IFFS/AFS 2006) – from 1 to 5 March 2006. Since the inaugural event in 1993, the FDA has grown steadily in scale. The recently concluded FDA 2005 received a total of 396 entries, a 19 per cent increase over the last event. FDA 2006 is supported by DesignSingapore Council, SPRING Singapore, International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore), the Designers Association of Singapore, Interior Design Confederation Singapore and Singapore Institute of Architects. For more information on FDA 2006, please visit www.singaporefurniture.com