Capturing the beauty of everyday things in the quest for a heartwarming ‘Singapore design’

LONG before the now-iconic Pinnacle@Duxton was built, the site was home to a far more modest-looking Housing Board development, Block 1 Cantonment Road.

It was along those corridors that some of Singaporean designer Mike Tay’s earliest memories were formed in the 1970s: marvelling at the Chingay parade making its rounds, playing with other kids and salivating at the scent of “love letter” biscuits cooking ahead of Chinese New Year.

Block 1 is gone for good, but the memory of it is immortalised on a cushion cover by design studio Onlewo, co-founded by Tay. The striking geometric pattern is abstract at first glance, but discerning eyes will recognise the blocky symmetrical design of older flats.