Shared Future: Agents of Change

The seminar was held on the URA Building, on 15th of April, Shared Future: Agents of Change Seminar is curated by MKPL Architects in celebration of the firm's 20 anniversary. The talks are divided into two forums with the previous one had already been held under the topic ‘HOMEGROWN: A Singaporean Design Consciousness’. As a closing forum to this exhibition, Shared Future talks about the multiplicity of potentials, business models and approaches to architecture, design, entrepreneurship and curation in an increasingly multi-disciplinary contemporary society.

The talks are featured by local aspiring designers; Karen Tan (Pocket Projects, The Projector), Javier Perez (Kilo, Grain Traders), Pan Yi Cheng (PRODUCE) and Kelley Cheng (The Press Room). The four designers mainly shared their own story on their journey how they reached today success, the downfall, inspirations, design approach and entrepreneurship.

Karen Tan - Pocket Project, The Projector

Pocket project is a creative development consultancy and management company. The firm conceptualize, consult on and manage niche urban development project, be it on their own or on behalf of the investor and clients. The brain behind the firm is Karen Tan and her co-founder, Blais Trigg-Smith. Karen Tan is a graduate from University of Melbourne majoring in Architecture and also BSc in Economics and a Masters in Real Estate Economic and Finance from London School of Economics. Before she settled up in Singapore, she had some working experience in London as an urban regeneration developer. She was a part in creating the award-winning Lorong 24A Shophouse Series in Geylang, Singapore.

Today, she is know for her brilliant idea behind the 'The Projector' project. The projector is a transformation of an old cinema into a new versatile cinema, dining and event space. It is an indie cinema with quirky and unique character, could be a perfect platform for those who are passionate in film. Karen explained on one interview that the purpose of this cinema rebuilding is to invite the public to explore the space, create an enthusiastic community and contribute to shaping the characteristic of the space with all the activities going on. All of these idea brought up by Karen simply started by her consideration on the surrounding needs when she stumbled upon the long-defunct Golden Cinema back in January 2014. Therefore she created The Projector together with her team to benefit those who lives, works and studies around the area.

Javier Perez - Kilo, Grain Traders

Javier Perez was born in Puerto Rico, but moved to Singapore since 10 years ago. When he first came to Singapore, he expressed that he fell in love with Singapore architectural, which was dominated by the traditional shophouses that time. Since young, Javier had been interested in F&B, not just for the food, but also for the experience that people have. He reached his dream when he first launched his first F&B chain Bahn Mi, followed by The Raw Kitchen the next few years. Javier then transformed The Raw Kitchen to Kilo Lounge due to some circumstances. He reinvented the brand and created a new fresh identity for Kilo. Kilo is designated to stimulate communication between people. Kilo also came from a place of providing a living room setting for people, where they walked into a cool industrial chic environment and felt connected to the place somehow. Javier told that the nicest comment he received is about Kilo giving a feel of a brand new place, not looking like it is in Singapore. Kilo now had opened three branches at Bugis, Orchard Central and Bali. He shared that when we need to works in limitation, it is when our creativity is being tested. Be open to changes, because we cannot control every single thing. "Where is the spontaneous?"

NB: Around few days after attending the talk, I passed through Orchard Central and decided to tryout Kilo myself. It was indeed a different dining experience. The food was nice, and the space was very inviting. It was not like typical restaurant as the place also incorporate retail spaces. Raw material such as concrete, wood, steel are mainly used to create the contemporary and industrial look.

Pan Yi Cheng - PRODUCE

PRODUCE is a design office targeting in creating new object, spaces and building for the city. The company also have ability to do prototypes before launching on the actual product. The chief creative producer of PRODUCE, Pan Yi Cheng is a top honors graduate of Architectural Association in London. Sounds crazy but true, he started off the company without knowing the demand in the market. He was simply driven by his passion in design. Slowly, the independent company started to gain private project, meanwhile they also offered help for student who needs acrylic cutting. He now had already created man beautiful pieces and places in Singapore, one of them is the N.O.M Bistro, a cafe located under the HDB estate in Macpherson. No other meaning, the only void deck cafe and bakery in Singapore.

"The word Produce, which is both a verb and a noun, represents our commitment and ambition to be PRODUCERS who put to action our minds into creating products of both intellectual and material values."

Kelley Cheng - The Press Room

The Press Room is a publishing and designing company that seeks new dimension and language in publishing industry. Judging from the self-introduction from its web, The Press Room is quite a quirky firm, lead by Creative Director Kelley Cheng. Their scope of works are including publication, printed graphic, environmental graphic, theater design, interiors, branding and film. On the talk, Kelley shared her recipe on her successful empire. She believed, that communicating with the client is also part of the marketing. A lasting relationship with the client needs chemistry. Because without a good chemistry, everything may not goes smoothly, we may not able to feel the clients' emotion, and the may engage with other designers as there are so many professionals out there. Kelley, who considered herself a businesswoman, shared that it is important to be active out there. It does not matter if we fail, because failure is a room of improvement also. Only by failing we could learn something new and to make the right decision because we have already tasted the mistake. She also talked about how she first started her career path by telling her parents that she wanted to be a designer. Back then, designer was not treasure. Kelley also stated there were not much school providing lesson for art and design. People used to look down on designers and prefer jobs like doctor, accountant or lawyer.

The conversation from four panelists in this Shared Future seminar had taught me lessons and made me interested to visit more of the place they have created. From their stories on their daily life, inspiration, and way of thinking, I can conclude that road to becoming designer is not easy. We need to have passionate and keep believing in what we are doing, at the same time it is also good to be humble and helpful. In designing, sometimes the most remarkable idea comes from observing the needs of surrounding. We also need to keep in mind, don't have the greed to control everything, and most importantly be open to changes!