Inspired by the radical approach of Studio Alchimia in the 1970's, Singapore Design: The Alchemists presents  the work of 15 young Singaporean designers who are leveraging technologies, processes and unusual materials to develop, as the co-curator Stefano Casciani posits, "a more contemporary attitude for designing in the global context."

Image by Franco Chimenti courtesy of The Alchemists. All other images courtesy of The Alchemists.

Drawing from the sights, smells and shapes that define a Singaporean landscape, these designers are performing modern alchemy, transforming the mundane into the exquisite. Here are five to watch:

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"Fools' Gold" cabinets by Lanzavecchia + Wai

Corrugated steel sheets, found in makeshift constructions throughout Singapore, get chromed out with metallic car wrap in these cabinets by Lanzavecchia + Wai. Inspired by the laminates used by the Alchimia group in the late '70s, Lanzavecchia + Wai play with ideas of high and low without sacrificing functionality.

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"Aura Tropicale" scent diffuser by Outofstock

Challenged with the idea of transforming an everyday object into one of wonder, the designers of Outofstock began a process of experimentation with the humble automotive filter. Designed to filter out particulates from car and motorcycle exhausts, these beautiful ceramic objects  are usually an unseen workhorse. Now shaped into a friendly and tactile convex form, Outofstock began playing with color and soon developed a process of applying a wash of green and purple hues through osmosis. The filters are placed in a color solution, "defying gravity," the designers explain and "soaking up colour like a straw." A drop of lemongrass essential oil, a scent associated with Singapore, is distributed down the shafts of the ceramic substrate creating a subtle and slow-release diffuser.

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"Spotted Nyonya," by Hans Tan

Transforming Nyonya porcelain with sandblasting, Hans Tan creates a multi-dimensional surface on a traditional domestic ware native to Southeast Asia. The vessels are masked with a dot motif and then put through an industrial sandblasting process, erasing the colored glaze to expose the original unvarnished white porcelain underneath.

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"Textile Transformations," by Tiffany Loy

Experimenting with digital craft, Tiffany Loy developed acrylic molds (that double as patterns) to create a unique texture on polyester fabrics. Pressing the material between the two molds forces the material to take on new forms. The resulting fashions are more wearable sculpture than clothing.

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"Instruments of Beauty (Divine Tools)," by Olivia Lee

Highlighting man's eternal search for beauty and meaning in the world, designer Olivia Lee created a set of nine tools, "to aid in the use and discovery of the golden ratio in existing or new work." Lee's work also represents the convergence of traditional disciplines of inquiry like math, engineering and art, with spiritual and technological ideals.  As Lee explains, "these tools invoke the mysterious force that encodes the Universe with our sense of beauty and the ideal."

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• Divine Sketchbook: A sketchbook with grids based on the golden ratio
• Divine Ruler: A ruler with a corresponding scale in golden ratio
• Divine Volumes: A set of wooden block representing the golden ratio spatially for exploring divine volumes
• Divine Roulette: A teethed stencil designed to draw hypotrochoids in multiples of five invoking Sacred Geometry
• Divine Looking Frame: A viewfinder use to investigate the presence of golden ratios in facades and objects from a distance
• Divine Kaleidoscope: An optical tool for creating pentagonal reflective geometry based on the 72odegree angle isosceles mirror inside
• Divine Protractor: A template of the golden angle used for replicating the distributive phenomena of phyllotaxis theory
• Divine Stencil: A pocket-sized drawing implement for creating golden ratio drawing guides with infinite scale
• Divine Calipers: A tribute to the original divine tool used for creating and checking for the golden ratio

Singapore Design: The Alchemists is on view now through April 19th at the Triennale di Milano, Viale Alemagna 6