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Themed Small Is Beautiful, this year's festival offers insights into small design studios and the likeThe annual architecture bonanza, Archifest, is back with more activities and last year's crowd favourite, the festival pavilion.mini storageNow in its seventh edition, the festival, organised by the Singapore Institute of Architects, has 58events, including a pop-up library, talks about the architecture and design industry, and design-themed exhibitions. It will begin next Friday and will run till Oct 13.This year's theme, Small Is Beautiful, reverses last year's discussion, Rethink Singapore, which looked at Singapore on a macro scale, both as an urban ecosystem and as a city in the future.The latest edition focuses on the smaller aspects of design - showcasing projects from smaller design studios, indie businesses and exploring the individual role of architects.Returning festival director Adib Jalal, 30, who helmed last year's event, says: "We wanted to carry on the debate from last year's theme and go micro, and question if big projects are always good things."Smaller design studios and businesses have great ideas that have significant impact on design in Singapore."Visitors to the three-week-long festival can also expect a returning favourite - the Archifest Pavilion.This year's pavilion was designed by RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, chosen from 16 entries from various firms.Its entry, House, is a building that recreates the skeleton of a house using reusable construction materials such as scaffolding and safety netting.The 700 sq m pavilion, which is on the green space next to the Dhoby Ghaut train station exits, will be the centre stage for most of the festival's events. There are also fringe events at other locations nearby.Architectural designer Wong De Yi, 32, who was partself storageof a team of 11 who worked on the pavilion design, says: "Construction materials are often overlooked as people want to see the final product. Hopefully, our design gets them to think about the construction process and how it signals the start of every building project."The whole festival cost more than $400,000 to put on, with $75,000 going towards the pavilion.Funds for Archifest came from ticket sales for some events, sponsorship and partners from the architecture fraternity.The festival drew 40,000 people last year, an attendance figure the organisers are hoping to match this year. Over the years, the attendance rates have remained stable.The festival also hopes to bring together different realms of design.For example, Building X Body aims to get architecture and fashion studios to create an installation that tackles issues of privacy, comfort, sustainability and other human needs. The three teams will get a 2sq m space to work with. It will be held at The Cathay from Oct4 to 13.The project's lead curator Joshua Comaroff, 39, jumped at the chance to work on the collaboration as he was eager to see what could happen when different disciplines come together.The director of architecture firm Lekker Design, which is also a regular design consultant for luxury brand Hermes here, says: "Most of the time, the fashion designer and the architect work separately."The fashion designers make these amazing looks and architects create emotive settings for them."It seemed interesting to break this boundary and see what happens when these two kinds of designers work with each other directly. I sometimes worry that architecture is too 'square' and uptight... Maybe we need a new kind of inspiration."natashaz@sph.com.sgFor more information on this year's festival line-up, go to archifest.sg.迷你倉