The annual DesignTO Awards celebrate excellence in exhibitions, installations, and product design at a Thermador-hosted celebration.
[March 30 2026, Toronto] DesignTO announced the winners of the 2026 DesignTO Awards on March 26 during a celebration held at the Thermador Experience & Design Centre in Toronto. Sponsored by Thermador, the annual Awards program recognizes outstanding work presented during the annual DesignTO Festival and celebrates the designers shaping contemporary culture in Canada and beyond.
From January 23 to February 1, 2026, the 16th annual DesignTO Festival transformed Toronto with more than 100 exhibitions, installations, talks, tours, and events across the city. Over ten days, thousands of visitors braved Toronto’s winter to experience art and design in galleries, storefronts, studios, hotels, and public spaces, reinforcing the Festival’s role as Canada’s leading and largest annual celebration of design. Featuring the work of hundreds of multidisciplinary designers each year, the Festival showcases furniture, product design, architecture, interiors, craft, graphic design, experiential design, and socially engaged practice.
The 2026 Awards were selected by a jury of designers and cultural leaders: curator and writer Sarah Edo; Lemay Design Director Jeff Ma; artist and Polymetis co-founder Michaela MacLeod; Eric Mutrie, Senior Editor at Azure magazine; and creative producer and cultural programmer Michael Nyarkoh. In addition to the jury-selected honours, three People’s Choice Awards were determined by public vote.
“Our annual awards program dates back to the 2013 festival, our third year. They are a meaningful public acknowledgement of design excellence, community building, and creativity, which supports and celebrates artistic practice. We are grateful to all of the creatives that inspire each festival and to the awards jurors for their care and consideration.”
— Deborah Wang, Artistic Director, DesignTO
Hosted at the Thermador Experience & Design Centre, the Awards ceremony celebrated art and design spanning furniture and lighting, site-specific installations, architectural practices, community workshops, and climate action.
“For more than a century, Thermador has championed kitchen appliance design that elevates everyday living. Our partnership with the 2026 DesignTO Awards reflects our belief in recognizing designers whose ideas push boundaries and inspire meaningful spaces.”
— Ashley Audisho, Head of Marketing, Thermador
The evening underscored DesignTO’s ongoing commitment to advancing public awareness and appreciation of design, fostering meaningful community connections through creative work.
Since launching in 2011, DesignTO has welcomed over 1.2 million visitors, showcased the work of more than 7,500 artists and designers, and generated $159 million in tourism impact.
The following projects and designers were recognized for their contributions to this year’s Festival.
2026 DesignTO Award Recipients
Major Awards
Founders’ Award
TO·BE·LONGING: Portraits of Queer Living
Quan Thai (with collaborators)
“We felt that Quan Thai’s installation beautifully weaved themes of queer domesticity, intimate space-making, and kinship formation in an honest and reflective way. He embraced an unlikely space (a hotel room) with creativity and imagination and executed the challenge very well.” – Sarah Edo, juror
“Receiving the Founder’s Award validates the power and impact of collective queer resilience, especially in a time when many of our voices continue to be oppressed. It’s been an honour to create a safe space to welcome the community into our homes—celebrating the nuances of our identity and the quiet, yet powerful, ways we build self-determination within the domestic, while remaining outside the margins of the status quo.” – Quan Thai
Emerging Artist/Designer Award
Invisible Weight
Sky Ece Ulusoy
“Invisible Weight gives form to the quiet burdens we carry, using simple materials to surface the latent tension between fragility and resilience. The installation invites viewers to shift their perception, become vulnerable, and recognize the emotional weight they hold beneath the surface.” – Jeffrey Ma, juror
“Participating in the festival and receiving the Emerging Artist/Designer Award is incredibly meaningful to me. ‘Invisible Weight’ creates space for recognition where the invisible pressures we carry become momentarily tangible, inviting viewers to sense the fragile balance between collapse and resilience. I’m very grateful to the jurors for this recognition, and to everyone who stepped into the work, as well as to DesignTO and STACKT Market for supporting reflective and critical practices within contemporary design.” – Sky Ece Ulusoy
Best Product/Object Design Award
Rubber Lamps (at Ensemble: Pot-au-Feu)
Atelier Fomenta
“Rubber is an unexpected and interesting material for this type of product. The way it is used here really plays to its strengths and adds so much personality to the designs.” – Eric Mutrie, juror
“This was our third year participating in the DesignTO Festival, and it has always been a great pleasure. It’s made up of passionate and welcoming people. Thank you for emphasizing and prizing our latest collection. We’re very grateful and it will surely fuel the upcoming projects.” – Atelier Fomenta
Best in Festival
Best Window Installation
Remnants for the Future
Yana Rzayeva
“I was taken by ‘Remnants for the Future’ by Yana Rzayeva for its presence. Perfectly framed by the window of the Stantec Window Gallery, it stands majestically and hauntingly on the street. The positioning of the textiles and copper installation brings the window to life and quietly speaks of a life gone. I feel watched and I am reminded of the many lives of the city.” – Michael Nyarkoh, juror
“I’m deeply honored to receive the Best Window Installation award from DesignTO. Bringing craft traditions and contemporary material exploration into a public design context feels especially meaningful, and I’m honoured that ‘Remnants for the Future’ resonated with the community.” – Yana Rzayeva
Best Exhibition
Ensemble: Pot-au-Feu
D’Armes, David Raymond, Fomenta, Jean-Michel Gadoua, Jeremy Paguet, Gabriel Page, Lambert et Fils, SANGARE, Séjour, Simon Johns, Small Medium Large, Studio JETA
“Every piece in Pot-au-Feu feels strange and wonderful in its own way. From Alex Joncas to Formenta, the exhibition moves across very different ways of making, yet the works sit comfortably together. The works create an atmosphere that feels materially adventurous and exploratory. Each piece feels as though it could easily move from the project space into daily life. Receiving the Best Exhibition award for a second year speaks to the strength and consistency of the collective’s approach.” – Michaela MacLeod, juror
Best Event
Exploring Biomaterials in Textile Applications
Ranee Lee, Becca Wakefield, Hannah Cormier, and collaborators
“Kudos to DESIGNwith for familiarizing more people with the incredible potential of biomaterials. This is exactly where design needs to be heading next.” – Eric Mutrie, juror
People’s Choice Awards
Window Installation
STRATA
Toronto Metropolitan University
Exhibition
Connections
Cherie Leung
“My piece is called ‘Connections’ because it encourages everyone to connect with those around us. Winning the People’s Choice Award is extra special because it means that many connected with the work as well.” – Cherie Leung
Event
Knot: Holding On
Alanoud Emaish
Juror’s Choice Awards
Sarah Edo
No Place Like (no) Home (at Traces)
Meena Chowdhury
“DesignTO was an amazing experience to discover, connect with, and get inspiration from other imaginative artists.” – Meena Chowdhury
The Monolith (at Assembly Not Required 3.0: Current Practices from Members of the Contemporary Textile Studio Cooperative)
Sadiq Awosanmi (Daem ArtHouse) and Mathias Dowers
“I really loved this installation for its experimental, intimate, and private approach to bringing people together within an exhibition experience. I thought it was well-built and created a space for improvisation and meditation, either alone or with another person.” – Sarah Edo, juror
The Unfaithful Mirror, The Spiky Mirror, The Spiky Stool (at Ensemble: Pot-au-Feu)
Igor Zigor and Philippe St-Denis
Jeffrey Ma
A Rose for Remembrance (at Dying.exhibit)
Claudia Chagoya
“I’m truly honored that ‘A Rose for Remembrance’ has been selected for this award. This project holds profound emotions for me, and having it recognized in this way is deeply moving.” – Claudia Chagoya
Bacon Embroidery Workshop
Laura Carwardine
“The Bacon Embroidery Workshop stood out for the reason of bringing a diverse and multigenerational community together.” – Jeffrey Ma, juror
“I’m grateful to be recognized by the DesignTO Festival and to be part of a design community that celebrates experimentation and new ideas in design. The Festival creates an important space that allows designers and artists to connect, to encourage one another, and to create new work.” – Laura Carwardine
Within My Temple Lies a Home (at Traces)
Nilojan Jegatheeswaran
Michaela MacLeod
How Heavy is a Building?
Ha/f Climate Design and Make Good Projects
“The true weight of a building extends beyond its physical mass. In Lisbon, preserving, maintaining, reusing, and extending the life of our buildings lightens the weight of the city.” – Ha/f Climate Design and Make Good Projects
Local Inventory
Ouroboros Deconstruction
Tactil by Futil Studio
Futil Studio
Eric Mutrie
Pressing Matters
Kyle Allan, Dexter Blake, Jacob Boyd, Thomas Ferreira, Kai Luk-Laughton, Mary-Beth Scully, Melissa Stocco, Patrice Temush
Touch Point Sconce (at Nice to Meet You!)
Mark Khoury Design and Devansh Shah
“DesignTO is a great forum for the public to engage with projects meant to be engaged with and I’m so glad Toronto has it as a champion of all the hard work and talent our design scene holds.” – Mark Khoury
Working Condition (at TAPE)
Persia Duncan
Michael Nyarkoh
Gathering Light (at ALL LIGHT)
Khadija Aziz
“The DesignTO Festival has always been an important platform for me to try out new ideas and take creative risks, which is why I look forward to it every year. I’m grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with incredible artists and designers each year I’ve participated in the Festival.” – Khadija Aziz
Lineage
Good Shit Studio and Confit Design
Shift Hook (at Nice to Meet You!)
Mal Yu
– 30 –
About DesignTO
As a charitable arts organization, DesignTO continues to expand its mission to advance the public’s appreciation of design, create accessible cultural programming, and nurture community connections through design. DesignTO acknowledges funding support for the 2026 DesignTO Festival from the Government of Ontario, City of Toronto, the Ontario Arts Council, and many sponsors and partners.
Each year, the DesignTO Festival brings over 100 free events across Toronto, showcasing hundreds of artists and designers. As Canada’s largest annual design festival, DesignTO has welcomed over 1.2 million attendees, reached 2.6 billion people through media, showcased 7,500+ artists and designers, and generated $159 million in tourism impact.
“DesignTO isn’t just a festival; it’s an anti-loneliness machine,” co-founder Christina Zeidler describes, underscoring the organization’s power to foster a sense of belonging and spark vital conversations about design’s role in shaping a better world.
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For additional information, visual assets, and interview requests, contact
Michael Madjus, Head of Marketing, DesignTO
[email protected]
+1 (647) 577-7899
Drydon Chow, Account Director, Group SJR
[email protected]
+1 (416) 407-2112
