Designed My Place

I just finished the Design My Place Urban Creativity Workshop over the weekend. It was nothing short of an amazing experience for the students, the facilitators, the organisers, and our supporters. It was very encouraging to see at the end how well received it was not just by the students, but also by our sponsors from URA, our supporters from Design Singapore and other guests that we invited as part of the jury panel.

My greatest thanks and appreciation certainly goes to Khoo Peng Beng, our Chief Facilitator/ instructor/ teacher/ Akido instructor, without whom, the whole workshop would have been less energetic, less inspiring, less passionate and less successful.

My greatest learning from this entire episode? It was heartwarming to see so many like-minded people coming together to support such an initiative to bring architecture to the people. More than that, it was our way of encouraging creativity and firing up passion within the hearts and minds of the next generation. At the closing of the entire workshop, I shared with the students the KEY to exploring and making good design. Read on.

Kreative - That's kreative with a capital K! Wouldn't it be boring if we always spelled creative with a C. The K symbolises the uniqueness that each of us embody. Recognise that you are unique and special. Contrary to what you may believe, you have something unique to offer creatively that nobody else in the whole wide world will be able to.

Excellence - In everything that you do, put your best foot forward. Live out a spirit of excellence not just in designing, but also in every area of your life. That's the only way you can live out your life to the fullest of its potential. That's the only way you can be the best designer that you were created to be.

You - This refers not to yourself but rather, to the people around you. Design is not just about achieving your creative vision. It is also about how your design influences the people around you. It is about how people use your design and experience it. It is also about giving back to society and to the community. It is about seeing things from other people's perspective and emphasizing, and meeting real needs.

I thought I'd end by saying this. Creativity is not the gifting of just the designer or the artist or the performer. We are all gifted with creativity and we use it and express it in different ways. Creativity is the domain of anybody who bothers to think differently, intelligently and beautifully. Do something creative today. Enjoy the pictures.