DesignSingapore Council presents ‘Prototype Island’ at Milan Design Week 2026

Following the success of its ‘Future Impact’ showcase series, staged at Milan Design Week from 2023 to 2025, at this year’s event, DesignSingapore Council presents ‘Prototype Island’. The all-new exhibition explores Singapore as a living prototype nation, continuously evolving, optimising and future-proofing against global challenges through the uncapped potential of design.

Curated by Hunn Wai, co-founder of Lanzavecchia + Wai, and assistant curator Eian Siew, the exhibition presents the 15 works of Singapore-based designers at Foro Buonaparte 54 in the buzzing Brera Design District, from 21-26 April. Alongside this dynamic duo, Wallpaper* contributor Maria Cristina Didero acts as Global Perspectives Advisor, bringing an outward-looking lens that bridges Italy and Singapore – connecting cultures, contexts, and conversations.

Carefully organised into three compelling themes, the exhibition explores modern challenges through experimentation with technology and materiality, rethinking how craft can be preserved and advanced, alongside innovative interpretations of care systems and reshaping the future of urban living. The themes are interpreted by both established and emerging designers across a variety of disciplines, practices and forms. Each designer balances experimental methods alongside traditional craftsmanship, echoing Singapore’s unique approach to design and blend of cultures.

Technological & Material Ecologies

This theme explores modern challenges through experimentation with technology and materiality. Highlights include Parable’s handcrafted modular ceramic system ‘Iris’, which – made from Singapore clay – blends unique artistry with ceramic design that can be reconfigured to suit the user’s changing needs; and Odd M’s repurposing post-consumer waste such as eggshells into lasting, functional, yet still elegant home objects. Further demonstrating innovation at scale, Carlos Bañón and Yiping Goh will display FORMAS.AI an AI-driven architecture and spatial planning platform that preserves creative ownership while streamlining the design process – showing that AI can empower creativity rather than replace it.

Care Infrastructures & Cultural Continuities

A second theme rethinks how craft can be preserved and advanced alongside innovative interpretations of care systems. Addressing cultural preservation, Serina Lee’s ‘Language System’ draws from a bilingual Singaporean lens to merge traditional Chinese calligraphy with the English alphabet into a system for constructing both digital and physical garments. Centring design on accessibility, Tusitala’s 3D-printed tactile book with Braille uses a modular three-tiered plate system to create a more accessible reading experience for children. Additionally, Celeste Seah explores reminiscence therapy for people with dementia, using generative AI to construct images as memory prompts to foster connection, narrative, and dignity in care.

Everyday Infrastructures

The third and final theme showcases design reshaping the future of urban living and essential services. This includes an innovative 4D-printed, patient-centric cast system offering a bespoke alternative to conventional fibreglass casts by A*Star Innovation Factory@SIMTech for Castomize. Singapore’s National Winner of the James Dyson Award 2025, Zoey Chan, introduces ‘Nido’, a compact, modular insulin needle holder combining safety, convenience, and discreet design, elevating dignity in daily care. And Reynard Seah’s ‘Noda’ draws inspiration from plant cells to create a flexible joint system suitable for shelters, playgrounds, and transformable structures.

According to Hunn Wai, the designers were ‘chosen for their ability to translate inquiry into action, shaping tangible responses that navigate constraint, uncertainty, and lived realities with rigour and imagination’.

‘Prototype Island’ will be on show from 21-26 April 2026 at Foro Buonaparte 54, Milan. As part of the exhibition’s programming, Maria Cristina Didero will host a series of three talks across 21-22 April, exploring key trends in contemporary design, from curation and collaborative practice to diverse approaches to prototyping, featuring curators and designers from the exhibition, and guest speakers.

The ‘Singapore Night’ evening party with Singapore-inspired F&B and music will take place on Wednesday, 22 April 2026, 7-11pm in the same location.

designsingapore.org/events/prototype-island