Tour Design District with new app
Leave behind the touristy spots and check out Singapore's design gems instead with the new Design District Mobile App, created by the Red Dot Design Museum Singapore.
The self-guided walking trail features design hotels, independent shops, neighbourhood cafes and galleries that are within 3km of the museum in Maxwell Road.
For instance, you can sip a cuppa at My Awesome Cafe in Telok Ayer Street - its facade is covered in Chinese characters - or browse vinyls at Curated Records in Tiong Bahru Road.
The museum also worked with local award-winning photographer Alan Lim to publish a Design District Photo Book. The street- photography book has 70 pictures shot around the Design District.
A selection of pictures from the book will be exhibited on lightboxes along the facade of the Red Dot Traffic Building, where the museum is housed. It runs from next Saturday to Nov 20. The first 1,000 copies of the book will be distributed free as part of the SG50 celebration.
Mr Lim will also host six tours, where he will share the stories behind the photographs. The tours, which run from 7 to 8pm, are on Nov 7, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 20. Sign up by e-mailing dd@red-dot.sg.
Info: The Design District App is free for download on the App Store and Google Play. Go to www.museum.red-dot.sg for details
Patera lamp by Oivind Slaatto for Louis Poulsen
Danish industrial designer Oivind Slaatto turns to the Fibonacci sequence for his new light fixture with famed lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen, featuring a series of logarithmic spirals.
The phenomenon is called Nature's numbering system and is used to explain natural sequences such as leaf arrangements.
The white, ball-shaped pendant light is made of synthetic material and assembled by hand.
Slaatto, 37, who became more sensitive to light after a concussion in 2008, tells design magazine Wallpaper*: "I feel really happy when lighting is good.
"I get headaches with strong light and can be physically ill when I'm exposed to poor lighting. I use this handicap as a benefit when I'm designing."
Where: Louis Poulsen, 01-02, 5 Purvis Street, tel: 6339-6086
Price: $1,818 for the 600mm Patera
Kartell launches home fragrances
Bigwig Italian design company Kartell, known for its furniture, furnishings and lighting, is making a splash in the realm of home fragrances.
The Kartell Fragrance Collection, which is sold exclusively at Robinsons, is designed by Italian architect Ferruccio Laviani who worked with "expert noses" from top perfume houses.
There are eight scents such as the flowery and musky Ghost Diamond and Portofino, which has whiffs of citrus fruits blended with cedarwood.
They are released through perfumed candles; diffusers with high-tech fibre aroma reeds; electronic capsule diffusers; and sprays.
Where: Robinsons The Heeren, Level 5, 260 Orchard Road, tel: 6735-8838
Price: $89 for refills for diffusers and sprays and up to $349 for a Ming diffuser, where the high-tech fibre aroma reeds are enveloped inside
Plan ahead with the monkey
Jot down your plans for next year with monkey- themed planners and notebooks, borne out of a collaboration between international clothing chain Shanghai Tang and famed notebook company Moleskine. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, next year is the Year of the Monkey.
The limited-edition series has two styles of notebooks - ruled or plain - and comes with repeated patterns of monkeys on the covers.
The diary, which has three embossed monkeys on the outside, also has an almanac with Chinese horoscopes for next year and a fengshui guide for the office.
The diary and ruled notebook are available in navy and the plain notebooks comes in red.
Where: Shanghai Tang, Ngee Ann City Boutique, 391 Orchard Road, 03-06/07, tel: 6737-3537
Price: $60 for a notebook and $75 for the diary
