The Asia Young Designer Awards (AYDA) International Summit 2019 made its way to Singapore for the first time in 10 years, showcasing sublime architectural and interior design works by 28 participants across 15 countries in Asia.
AYDA, touted as Asia’s premier design award, is an international design competition organised by the NIPSEA Group. It is the only dedicated regional award organised for students studying architecture or interior design to produce design projects with a social purpose.
The aim of each work is to map out a future of human-centred design, where these blueprints can work their magic with the power of engineering, science and art. By focusing on the end user, each of these proposed solutions address actual needs and potentially generate both commercial and social impact. Each of the 20,000 submissions to this contest was a labour of love from the creator hoping to positively change the world.
The AYDA International Summit isn’t just a competition, but also serves as a platform for these young talents to fraternise with their peers, and also stand shoulder to shoulder with renowned industry professionals. Whether as friend, mentor or judge, each participant stands to learn from the best of the best, further improving their craft. As AYDA travels around Asia, participants will get the chance to explore outside their own native regions, gaining precious cosmopolitan experience.
The winner gains the opportunity to experience a six-week AYDA/Harvard Design Discovery Summer Programme at Harvard University worth more than US$10’000, along with potential internship and employment opportunity and more!
Since the inception of the company, we have been pushing boundaries through coatings and innovation that unlock the promise of a more collaborative and meaningful way of delivering the value of sustainability. The AYDA is a manifestation of how we remain deeply committed in merging design thinking and our company’s expertise to build a platform that unites stakeholders to create social impact for businesses, consumers, societies and our environment. We believe that as young designers entering the professional field, it is important to retain the mindset of using design to better the lives of the people. We are proud to continue building this ecosystem, taking the lead to empower both like-minded young and professional designers to design for the betterment of the society
Mr Wee Siew Kim, CEO, NIPSEA Group
In a sense, AYDA functions as an exchange programme of sorts. Set to rotate between different countries every year, it gives local talent the opportunity to not only rub shoulders with other adept designers, but also the chance to explore architecture and design away from home. With Asia’s rapid growth as an economic powerhouse, the need for intelligent solutions and unorthodox designs has substantially increased. Subsequently, the inspiration to create these could come from a country with rapid industrialisation like China, or a packed urban landscape like Singapore and Hong Kong.
It has been repeatedly said that millennials are responsible for killing almost every industry in the world: diamond, cinema and even property (thought that’s not all a bad thing). However, the future shines bright on these talented individuals at AYDA, as they seek to nurture their skills and knowledge for the betterment of others.
AYDA’s theme of “Forward” exemplifies this attitude, and as our blue marble continues to run into problems, the need for designed sustainable solutions increases.
These youthful designers just might change the world, for good this time.