Design&Disasters is a project initiated by the
DesignSingapore Council, with the aim of creating design that can be deployed to prepare for and minimise effects of disasters, in the case of disaster occurrences in the 5Rs: 1. Resilience 2. Respond 3. Rescue 4. Restore 5. Rebuild. It also hopes to cultivate a better appreciation of design's role in improving lives and in humanitarian aid, as well as an understanding that design is not the exclusive precinct of the elite, but also has a broad-based functional humanitarian utility.
The project called for new ideas as well as ready solutions, and received ideas from 7 teams and individuals, from Singapore, China, Japan, Thailand and the UK. The ideas will be compiled into a publication and exhibited during the Singapore Design Festival 2007 from 28 November – 16 December.
The Design&Disasters publication will be distributed to selected schools, designers, and relief organisations, both in Singapore and internationally. Our hope is for it to reach out to benefit as many people as possible, and spread the message that Design Makes a Critical Difference.
