Yann Follain, the Managing Director-Head of Design of WY-TO, a Paris-based architectural design studio with a Singapore office, is this year’s Archifest Festival Director.
Running from 28th September to 10th October 2018, the Festival theme, “Design for Life”, serves to address various elements such as livability, sustainability, well-being, life satisfaction but also to push creativity and innovation. The use of the word ‘design’ instead of ‘architecture’ promotes collaborations and captures the evolving role of architects. The main theme is elaborated in 3 sub-themes: Design for People, Design for Time and Design for Environment.
2018 Festival Director
Yann Follain, WY-TO
After 10 years of working in Singapore, Yann has built up a rich multicultural and multidisciplinary experience in developing projects of various scales for clients in the residential, commercial, exhibition and museum sectors. The philosophy that drives his practice is the fundamental belief that Design Must Serve a Cause. The disciplined approach to design is rooted in research and strategy, as he aims to develop timeless, durable environments with a strong focus on context and content as the driving methodology, beyond pure aesthetics. As a Sustainability advocate, he works to remain relevant in an age of economic, political and social uncertainties while improving social and environmental conditions and preserving financial health.
“Design for Life” is a theme which broadly encompasses the Architect’s vision to respond to the true needs of humanity. This is very much at the core of WY-TO’s beliefs on the necessity for design to give back to the community and enrich human life as a whole, through social and environmental engagement.
Together with his team, Yann received the Future-Maker Award at the Beijing Global Innovation Conference and an Honourable Mention at the international Red Dot Design Competition in 2016. He was also recognised as one of Europe’s 40 Under 40 emerging young designers in 2016 and is a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) from 2017. Apart from managing his practice, Yann has frequent speaking and teaching engagements on design in the region, as well as at GSoA (Singapore). He also served as a member of the Advisory & Commissioning Panel for the Public Art Trust within the National Arts Council in Singapore and has been a member of SIA since 2013.