As part of Bangkok Design Week, two curated talks organised by 3C Awards Group will take place on February 1st at the Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC). Hosted at the Resource Center Library on the 4th floor of the Grand Postal Building, the sessions bring together international designers, architects, and brand leaders to explore how design shapes cities, products, and everyday life.
Bangkok Design Week has long been a fixture on the city’s cultural calendar, playing a central role in strengthening Thailand’s creative industries and positioning Bangkok within the UNESCO Creative City Network as a City of Design. Organised by the Creative Economy Agency (CEA) in collaboration with more than 60 state agencies, public organisations, academic institutions, and international partners, the festival brings together over 2,000 designers and creative businesses and attracts an estimated 400,000 visitors from Thailand and abroad. Across five editions, Bangkok Design Week has welcomed more than 1.75 million visitors and generated an economic value of approximately 1.368 billion baht, underlining its cultural and economic impact.
Within this context, 3C brings an international curatorial lens to Bangkok Design Week, presenting two talks that reflect how contemporary design operates across radically different scales, from national public infrastructure to globally competitive consumer brands.
Shaping a New Sports Brand: Product, Identity, and Retail Experience
13:30–14:00
The first talk explores how a new sports brand can be built through close collaboration between designer and founder, aligning product innovation, brand identity, and physical retail experience.
The session is led by Sébastien Maleville, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Essential Studio. Born in France and trained in industrial design in Paris, Maleville has built an international career spanning Europe, China, and Southeast Asia. From 2014 to 2024, he served as Creative Director and Branch Manager at Jacob Jensen Design, while also lecturing in industrial design at King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi in Bangkok. In 2024, he co-founded Essential Studio, a Bangkok-based design and strategy studio focused on sustainability-driven innovation, responsible products, and long-term brand development.
Joining him is Watee Wichiennit, Founder and Managing Director of VING Thailand. A recreational runner, Watee launched VING in 2019 after struggling with discomfort from traditional running shoes. His pursuit of function-led performance led to the creation of VING NIRUN, the world’s first flip-flop equipped with carbon-plate technology and advanced foam, redefining expectations around running sandals and challenging the dominance of conventional running footwear.
Together, the speakers will unpack how VING’s core values, rooted in performance, natural movement, and innovation, were translated into product design, visual language, and spatial storytelling. The talk examines how Essential Studio and VING collaborated to shape the brand from early positioning through to the design of its flagship retail space at Bangkok’s National Stadium, creating a store that functions both as a commercial platform and a community hub.
Sébastien Maleville is a Jury Member of the SIT Furniture Design Award, while VING Thailand has received international recognition at the FIT Sport Design Awards 2025 and the Global Footwear Awards 2025, highlighting the impact of strong design partnerships and product-driven brand building.
Regenerative Design for a People-First Government
14:00–14:30
The second session shifts focus from consumer brands to civic infrastructure, presenting a landmark case study in regenerative landscape design for government environments.
The talk is presented by Siriwat Jirawattananon, Landscape Architect and Design Director at Landprocess, and Sajjapongs Lekuthai, Landscape Architect and Managing Director of the firm.
Siriwat Jirawattananon is recognised as a new-generation practitioner integrating computational analysis and evidence-based design into landscape and urban projects. His work focuses on transforming complex urban data, including flood risk, urban heat island effects, and environmental pollution, into practical, nature-based solutions. He has led major public and institutional projects such as Puey Ungphakorn Centenary Park, Chong Nonsi Canal Park, and the 100th Anniversary renovation of Lumphini Park.
Sajjapongs Lekuthai specialises in the strategic management of large-scale landscape and urban resilience projects, combining design expertise with business and feasibility insight. His work centres on translating climate adaptation strategies into buildable, high-impact projects across public infrastructure, institutional green innovation, and mixed-use developments.
Together, they present the transformation of the Thailand Government Complex, one of Southeast Asia’s largest administrative hubs. The project reclaimed over 18.5 acres of impermeable surface, replacing car-dominated areas with green plazas, shaded walkways, and a central civic lawn. Regenerative strategies include rainwater catchment systems and bioswales for stormwater management, extensive tree planting to reduce urban heat, and solar panels that now supply more than half of the complex’s energy needs.
The speakers will share how these design decisions were developed, the challenges encountered during implementation, and the lessons learned from working within a government framework. In 2025, the project received Landscape Architecture of the Year at the BLT Built Design Awards, recognising its leadership in people-centred, climate-resilient public space design.
Facing Challenges with a Positive Twist
Through its presence at Bangkok Design Week 2026, 3C Awards supports this year’s theme, “DESIGN S/O/S: Secure Domestic / Outreach Opportunities / Sustainable Future”, a call for the design industry to respond actively to a world that feels fragile, complex, and constantly changing.
As uncertainty, anxiety, and pressure shape everyday life, design risks being reduced to something decorative or secondary and this theme pushes back against that idea, introducing design as a tool for adaptation, problem-solving, and positive change. It invites designers to think optimistically, collaborate across disciplines, challenge conventions, and design with purpose beyond aesthetics. The two talks curated by 3C Awards reflect this mindset in practice, moving from regenerative public landscapes that rethink how cities serve people to performance-driven brands that challenge established product categories. This programme is made possible through 3C’s partnership with the European Product Design Awards (EPDA), who are managing the local talk sessions on behalf of 3C.
