05 April 2012

5 Minutes with… FARM

The 4 founders of FARM collectively chat about their projects, favourite things, and how they work.

The folks at FARM are many things – a cross-disciplinary design practice, a curatorial team, a community-centred arts organisation… the studio actively collaborates with artists and designers on a diverse range of projects, including architecture and interior design, product design and merchandising, graphic design and branding, art installation and sculpture, exhibition design, and more.

FARM's schedule may be packed, but we manage to catch up with the 4 founders for this quick chat!

FARM

Al-Ansar Mosque

Describe your design philosophy.

We would like to cultivate a culture of imagination, and underpinning all we do is a belief that joyful creativity is essential in all our lives.

FARM

The Conch

Projects you are busy with at the moment.

Bench – a community project using recycled timber from the old National Stadium.

Made for SAM 2 – a continuation of a project we started 2 years ago with the Singapore Art Museum involving re-designing everyday objects.

An old hotel, a few houses, a couple of restaurants and a host of other projects relating to spaces, graphics and products.

FARM

Skyve Bar

FARM

Skyve graphics

Top 3 influences.

The unique culture of Singapore.

Other creative disciplines and practices.

The immediacy of the internet and the way images can be shared and consumed across borders in an instant.

Favourite local landmark/building.

Our humble public housing apartment block – the ‘HDB’. There is a lot of endearing charm in its simple architectural form, which allows life to play out its colourful and contradictory episodes.

Favourite international landmark/building.

Brighton's West Pier – it’s such a beautiful ruin.

FARM

The Brick Loft

Dream project to work on – real or imaginary.

To curate and design a museum of local design works.

Dream person to collaborate with.

Akira Kurosawa, an Asian icon and a creative genius.

FARM

Made for SAM (Singapore Art Museum)

Favourite decade of design.

The 2010s, because we see such an exciting time ahead.

Favourite chair.

The 4 legged Ikea version of Aalto's Stool 60. Simple, beautiful and affordable.

Number 1 concern for the design industry in this decade.

The past decade in Singapore has seen the appreciation of the value of good design grow. We hope to see this become an inseparable part of our culture.

One item in the workplace you can’t live without.

Wonderful colleagues. And coffee.

The most unusual/interesting thing about the way you work.

Having various design disciplines in the one office means you're always talking to people of different backgrounds. This throws up interesting ways of looking at problems.

FARM
farm.sg

FARM