While most museums focus on history or art, the Red Dot Design Museum along the Marina Bay waterfront celebrates something different – the power of everyday design and how it can shape the way we live.
Inside, the compact, two-storey Red Dot Design Museum, you will find an entire collection of ideas, spanning from futuristic gadgets to sustainable inventions to household products. These provide a glimpse into how creative perspectives and thoughtful design can shape the live, work and play environment.
Inside the Red Dot Design Museum
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The Red Dot Design Museum is home to the internationally renowned Red Dot Design Award.
It draws its showcase of more than 500 exhibits from this design competition.
Many exhibits explore practical solutions to modern challenges, including sustainable packaging, accessible products and innovative technology concepts.
After picking up a ticket from the counter, you scan the entry card to get past the gantry and into the galleries.
The first floor provides an introduction to design. One of the features here is an hands-on exhibit – the Interactive Design Lab.
The Interactive Design Lab is a non-digital experience that makes use of transparent sheets of plastic, printed with various objects, that you can use to get creative.
Move them about and layer them on top of each other to create a collage of your own, experimenting with how you can give life to your own designs and ideas.
Preview of the Future
Once ready, make your way up the stairs to the second floor of the Red Dot Design Museum.
The exhibition, known as Preview of the Future, showcases the most novel and futuristic design concepts that were carefully selected by an independent jury panel of design experts from the international Red Dot Award: Design Concept.
These ideas are mostly presented in the form of write-ups that explain the issues that they are trying to address and their proposed solutions. For design enthusiasts, they will appreciate reading about the thought processes behind the designs.
In addition to the descriptions, there are also displays of selected ideas that provide a look at how the concepts may be turned into physical products.
You can find a range of ideas here on display from designers around the world – objects as familiar as seats and chairs to mobility and transportation ideas.
Red Dot Design Museum Shop
Beyond the galleries, the museum shop is worth a visit before you leave.
Instead of generic souvenirs, you can browse through a carefully curated collection of stylish homeware, practical yet quirky lifestyle products and uniquely Singapore-inspired gifts.
If you are looking for an unusual gift or a souvenir that is out of the ordinary, you may be able to find it here.
There is also a cosy café where guests can relax with coffee and desserts, all with the views of the Marina Bay in the background.
A fun fact is that the striking glass building that houses the Red Dot Design Museum was formerly the Marina Bay City Gallery. It was then transformed into the current museum in 2017.
The building’s angular architecture, dramatic steel framework and floor-to-ceiling windows create a modern and airy atmosphere that complements the exhibits inside.
Overall Thoughts on the Red Dot Design Museum
Although small, the Red Dot Design Museum will appeal to design enthusiasts or aspiring creatives looking for inspiration.
It is a bit involved and to fully appreciate it, we think that one would have to slow down and spend some time absorbing the information presented in the panels.
