Common Ground Makeathon: Design x Tech x Culture

about this event

COMMON GROUND — One Day Creative Tech Makeathon. Build at the intersection of design × technology x culture on 11th October at SQ Collective Singapore (in person) — experiment with new ways of making, interacting, expressing, and experiencing.

Choose from two tracks: Design × Tech and Culture × Tech. No fixed medium or outcome — build a website, visual experiment, AI experience, speculative prototype, or something we don't have a name for yet. Solo or squad — register individually and create or join teams up to 3.

Build with Codex. All participants will receive Codex credits. A short onboarding will help you get started with Codex and other partner tools. USD $5,000 Codex credits prize pool — projects from both tracks will be presented and judged at the end of the event.

All backgrounds welcome — you don't need to be a designer, artist or engineer. Just bring fun and curious vibes!!

What's common ground? “I’m not technical.” Okay. And? Somewhere along the way, we decided that technology belonged to the people who knew how to code it. Before code was code, it was holes punched into cards telling a loom which threads to lift. Ada Lovelace noted that the Analytical Engine “weaves algebraic patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.” Two centuries later, NASA looked to origami to figure out how to fold enormous structures into spacecraft. A surprising amount of the world exists because somebody followed a thought beyond where their expertise was supposed to end.

Common Ground is a one-day makeathon exploring what happens when creative people from different disciplines are given the same tools and space to experiment. Designers, researchers, architects, filmmakers, historians, students, technologists, musicians, educators, enthusiastic amateurs, and people who clicked “register” before figuring out which one they are. If you have a way of seeing the world that someone else in the room might not have, you're useful here.

What are you signing up for? We’re building across two tracks, with Codex as our primary technology partner. Every participant will receive Codex credits to prototype and experiment throughout the day, with a USD $5,000 prize pool up for grabs across the makeathon.

DESIGN × TECH: Reimagine how we create, interact and experience. For designers, artists, makers, creative coders and anyone interested in pushing technology beyond conventional interfaces.

CULTURE × TECH: Reinterpret the past, present and future of culture through technology. Culture here can mean heritage, language and tradition, but also contemporary culture, such as, music, fashion, food, subcultures, communities and emerging forms of expression.

What do you bring? A laptop with internet access — and don’t forget your charger! No prior experience is required. All skill levels are welcome. We’ll start off with a short onboarding session to help you get started with Codex and introduce you to tools from our sponsors. Optional: any specialist tools relevant to what you want to build. example: Arduino/Raspberry Pi kits, sensors, craft materials, cameras, drawing tablets. Most importantly: Bring fun, creative, and curious vibes!! Bring whatever it is you know unusually well. Someone else will bring whatever you don't. We'll meet somewhere in the common ground. And that's kind of the whole point :)

Meet the team! Organised by Carissa Jayanto • Tanisha Shaw • Kian Seng in collaboration with SQ Collective. Tag or connect with us in linkedin for any cool ideas! We're still breaking ground. We will keep sharing details on the prizes, sponsors and the full schedule as we get closer to the event date.

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