During the days of Il Salone del Mobile, with an exhibit in Triennale a new generation of designers from Singapore embarked on a creative investigation through design – of language, mythologies, and philosophies. The Alchemist project is curated by Italian editor, writer and designer Stefano Casciani, and co-curated by designer Patrick Chia, who is also the founding director of Singapore’s Design Incubation Centre.
The ‘Alchemist’ is a nod to the Italian movement of the 1970s, Studio Alchimia, whose members’ experimental design pieces resulted in a design language and creativity that challenged the status quo.
The title also aims to convey a seemingly magical element, or role, that exists in the act of designing or making. The alchemist of yesteryear dedicated their life to the transformation of materials, from the ordinary to the precious, most commonly from metal into gold. The starting point for The Alchemist project was ‘the designer as alchemist: what can be designed by applying the process of transmutation?’
This project is supported by the DesignSingapore Council.
