One year shy of 60, London-based architect Voon Wong of Viewport Studio, shares intimate details of his long journey from his student days studying at the Architectural Association, to working for Zaha Hadid, working in an era without computers or internet, evolution of his studio from Voon Wong Architects to VW+BS to the current Viewport Studio, keeping calm and carrying on through a few financial crises, his design of the Virgin Galactic Spaceport, what the Singapore design identity means, and unexpectedly scoring a client through his Instagram travel “snaps”.

Pan Yi Cheng’s propensity to search for the existential crisis – and even looks at himself from that lens – is the essence and genesis of Produce, the design studio and prototyping workshop he founded in 2013. The design studio’s claim to fame is its award-winning plywood pavilions for Xtra’s Herman Miller shop-in-shop. The first version won the Best Retail Building award at the World Architecture Festival of 2012 and the second pavilion was named World Interior of the Year at the Festival of Interiors in 2017. Produce’s body of works also include designs for the Wild Rocket and Kki restaurants, as well as landed properties. Having started with “very, very, very small objects” and seen how small parts fit together into the bigger whole, Yi Cheng says they are now ready for bigger projects like master planning and urban design. Yi Cheng graduated with honours at the Architectural Association in London in 2006 and accumulated years of experience in the field of architecture and academia working with renown international firms like Arup Advanced Geometry Unit, TP Bennett, Serie Architects and UNStudio before moving back to Singapore to set up shop in 2010.

Pioneer Singapore fashion designer Thomas Wee is something of a legend in the local fashion design industry. He first blazed onto the scene in 1978 after emerging a finalist in the inaugural Young Fashion Designer Contest organised by Her World magazine, and was swiftly named one of “The Magnificent Seven” designers of Singapore thereafter. Over the next four decades, his dedication towards impeccable tailoring and innovating the classics gained him a loyal following among those in pursuit of sharp style and elegant glamour. In this interview, we pick his brains about the challenges of the fashion business, the importance of good taste, and the DNA of the Thomas Wee brand. 

Founded in 2011, the branding and creative design company, Roots was started by Jonathan Yuen with the goal of returning to the basics of good design. As the principal designer of a small company, hear about what growth and success means to him, and his opinions on where the industry is headed.

If you have been to Violet Oon’s kitchen at National Art Gallery before, and wondered who is the designer behind the exquisite design, it is actually done by a relatively young designer in her 30s, Cherin Tan of Laank Studio. Laank is a 8-year-old studio that has done some remarkable interior works focused on human-centric spaces. Kelley Cheng speaks with Cherin Tan on her design-in pajamas-from-the-bedroom one-woman-show beginning to how she overcome teething problems to build her studio of 12 today.

After working with global fashion brands in London and Shanghai, Gin Lee realised a fundamental flaw in the industry, something which called for a shift towards more sustainable practices. With her training in womenswear design, she decided to take things into her own hands; and in 2011 her label Ginlee Studio was born. Beginning their journey in Israel, Gin and her partner Tamir have since established their brand in Singapore at their Great World City boutique. Translating their experiences, cultures, and beliefs into unique silhouettes and fabrics, Gin and Tamir continue to challenge consumer and industry practices by making their own culture of slow fashion. 

Founder of Nathan Yong Design and one-half of the partnership at Grafunkt, a successful lifestyle and furniture store, Nathan Yong is one of the most prolific and successful product and furniture designers in Singapore. He shares with Kelley Cheng his carefree childhood by the sea, his up and down journey as a designer, entrepreneur and artist, his views of an ideal education in product design, the secrets of his success and why his pet beagle is named Jaeger.

Trials and tribulations have made Larry Peh, of &Larry, the man he is today. With his fair share of rough beginnings and difficult times, the simple goal of doing good with design and the driving force to succeed eventually got him named Designer of the Year, at 2014’s President*s Design Award. With the belief that in a business for the people, good design should fade into the background. &Larry has made a solid reputation in the local design scene.

With a fairly young design tradition, it was only in recent years that more design studios have become multi-disciplinary. But Randy Chan of Zarch Collaboratives has always embraced the interconnected relationship between art, architecture and design. It was when he joined the art collective, Plastique Kinetic Worms, that he fully realised the potential of a collaborative approach. Being involved in curation, architecture, and art installation, Zarch Collaboratives deconstructs the traditional rules of genre and approach, demonstrating an innovative vision of what design can be.

Chang Yong Ter founded Chang Architects in 2000, on the cusp of the new millennium. Since then, he has gone from strength to strength, first winning the URA 20 Under 45 award in 2004, and a multitude of others since then. 17 years have passed since then, but Yong Ter’s passion for design continues to burn as brightly as ever. More recently, Yong Ter and his wife founded the Wondrous Light Children House, an activity centre for preschool children that focuses on development of the senses, rather than just education. He shares his journey with The Press Room.