Challenging the status quo

FIFTEEN design studios and designers are flying the Singapore flag high at this year's Triennale di Milano at the ongoing Milan Design Week. Their works are part of the show titled The Alchemists, curated by Stefano Casciani, an Italian editor, writer and designer, and award-winning Singapore designer Patrick Chia.

The "Alchemists" is a nod to the Italian movement of the 1970s, Studio Alchimia, whose members' experimental design pieces resulted in a design language and creativity that challenged the status quo. It was a radic…