Human by Design

In a world where human creativity and craftsmanship are increasingly seen as luxuries, how do designers and makers collaborate to create spaces and objects that celebrate original ideas and artisanal skills. A panel of DesignTO exhibitors and industry leaders discuss building a future for Canadian design that places all that we’re capable of first.

Speakers

Mischa Couvrette is an entrepreneur and Founder whose work is defined by a rigorous attention to materiality, proportion, and architectural context. Through hollis+morris, he has developed a distinctive design language that bridges artisanal craft and industrial precision, producing lighting that enhances and complements contemporary spaces. His practice values restraint, durability, and thoughtful collaboration, with a mindful approach to materials and the environment, resulting in enduring designs that resonate with architects and designers alike.

Vanessa Fong is the Principal Architect at VFA Architecture + Design, an innovative architecture and interior design studio specializing in holistic, contextually specific and forward-looking custom design. A graduate of McGill University with over a decade of architectural experience, Vanessa remains a curious explorer – innovation in design and constructability along with the need to create spaces that positively impact human health and wellness are at the core of Vanessa and her firm’s values. Recognized for excellence in architectural design, Vanessa was inducted to the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s College of Fellows in 2024. That same year, VFA was also recognized as an emerging Canadian Architectural Practice by Twenty Plus Change and Canadian Architect.

Nicholas Sangaré’s Sangare Studio is a Montreal-based creative agency involved in multiple areas of design, from architecture to interior design and product development. Through a creative approach inspired by integrated design, Sangare Studio aims to highlight the importance of environmental and human factors in its projects. Being an inclusive, multiethnic, and black-owned design studio gives it the opportunity and responsibility to share these values both locally and internationally. Through this creative ecosystem, Sangare Studio seeks to support younger generations in their success through local art and design.

Sophia Kyungwon Kim is a Toronto-based interdisciplinary artist holding an MFA from OCAD University. Her practice explores how ongoing practices of care and maintenance fill the relational voids between us, shaping invisible networks of mutual influence. Through oil paintings, large-scale modular textile installations, 2.5-D wall reliefs and bronze sculptures, Kim transforms fleeting, easily forgotten moments of bodily labor and emotion into permanent structural weight. Drawing conceptual inspiration from mycelial networks and the Korean sentiment of Han (恨), her work visualizes how shared spaces and communities are sustained through quiet interdependence. Prior to her full-time artistic practice, Kim spent 15 years in public safety with the Korean National Police Agency and raised four children, bringing an insightful understanding of systemic networks, physical presence, and collective reliance to her art.

Jake Oliveira is a Toronto based industrial designer; his studio collaborates with international brands Boyd Lighting, A. Rudin, Powell & Bonnell, Ourse, and more on a broad offering of furniture and lighting. The studio’s ethos sees deeply personal concepts smashed together with classical analogue technique to result in forms that are novel and instantly recognizable through their juxtaposition of architectural restraint and drama. In addition to collections for other brands, Oliveira co-founded and launched the brand Ourse in 2026. His work has been exhibited across Europe and the United States, with designs featured in showrooms, projects and publications across North America, France, Germany, the UAE and the UK.

Andrew Sardone is the Editorial Director of The Globe and Mail Style Magazine where he leads an international team of creative contributors who inspire audiences through ambitious storytelling about the best of style. The magazine prioritizes features that are aspirational and worldly while emphasizing the positive influence readers can have as consumers. His writing for the magazine focuses on profiles of creative leaders who connect art and culture to style, the value of craftsmanship in the things that surround us, and how travel can enrich an appreciation for fashion, design and living well.