Hi friends. In this edition, we’re diving into the installations and events that invite you not just to look at design, but to step inside it. The DesignTO Festival is back, running January 23 to February 1, 2026, filling Toronto with 10 days of immersive, interactive, and imagination-sparking experiences. And while it’s still a month away, now’s the perfect time to start mapping out your must-sees so you don’t miss a moment.
DesignTO is a charitable arts and culture organization that believes design can create a sustainable, just, and joyful world. As Canada’s largest annual design festival, DesignTO brings people together to design a better future – one shaped by innovation, community, and possibility. Every exhibition, talk, installation, and event is guided by this mission.
Today, we spotlight experiential design: the art of crafting environments that make you feel something – through interaction, immersion, wonder, and sometimes a little surprise. Experiential design bridges the physical and digital, the sensory and social, transforming everyday spaces into memorable encounters.
Across the city, there are countless installations and events inviting you to listen, touch, move, reflect, and play. Our eight highlighted picks below are but a glimpse into the many ways artists and designers are shaping sensory experiences. From glowing glass fields and immersive soundscapes to responsive lighting, and speculative weather systems, these works invite you to explore how design can shift atmospheres, moods, and even perspectives.
The future of design unfolds through moments you can feel, shape, and share. Let’s explore it together – with friends and family, IRL or through the ‘gram.
Eight Knock-out Experiential Designs
Jan 23 – Feb 1, 2026
2 St. Clair Avenue West
Suspended, cloud-like mesh forms hover overhead, creating a bright, airy environment that invites visitors to wander, look up, and feel held within a shared sky. Layers of translucent colour shift as you move, making the installation especially photogenic and welcoming for families and kids. Its open, interwoven shapes celebrate multiple identities and perspectives, offering a gentle, uplifting space to pause, reflect, and experience belonging together.
Jan 7 – Feb 1, 2026
L Space Gallery, Humber Polytechnic Lakeshore Campus, 19 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive, Etobicoke
Step inside a house-like environment where rooms, objects, and small discoverable details invite wandering, touching, and playful exploration. This interactive installation transforms the gallery into a warm, photo-friendly space where families and kids can move through intimate corners and communal zones alike. Drawing on many cultural perspectives, it reflects on how personal notions of “home” connect to a larger community, creating an inviting, hands-on atmosphere filled with moments of surprise and reflection.
Oct 17, 2025 – Apr 12, 2026
Toronto Sculpture Garden, 115 King Street East
A winding serpent sculpture curls through the garden, its ribbed form shaped by real recordings from streetcars, church bells, chimes, and birds. Visitors – kids included – can walk around its playful, photo-friendly body, noticing how each segment reflects the city’s shifting soundscape. Both whimsical and contemplative, the piece invites you to tune in to the urban mix of noise, nature, and culture, transforming everyday sounds into a vibrant, sculptural encounter.
Jan 23 – Feb 1, 2026
Haworth Toronto Showroom, 55 University Avenue
Overhead office lights come alive in this interactive installation, glowing, and dimming in response to people moving along the sidewalk. Four linked LED panels create a shifting canopy that playfully mirrors your position, making the space feel responsive and animated day or night. Kids and families will enjoy triggering the light patterns, and the ever-changing display offers great photo moments. A fun, tech-driven reminder that even everyday architecture can spark curiosity and connection.
Jan 23 – Feb 1, 2026
STACKT Market, 28 Bathurst Street
Suspended ornaments blend local architecture and flora, gently responding to shifting light in an immersive, sculptural environment. This playful installation invites visitors of all ages to explore a luminous space where heritage meets innovation. The dynamic lighting, inspired by natural rhythms, creates a magical atmosphere perfect for photography and family visits. Crafted with sustainable technology, it celebrates community growth while offering a peaceful moment to connect with the present and the past.
Jan 1 – Jan 31, 2026
Sankofa Square, 1 Dundas Street East
Five digital screens at Sankofa Square display luminous, intimate photographs that transform urban surroundings into fleeting moments of light and reflection. From glistening fences to greenhouse sanctuaries, Steven Beckly’s images invite visitors to pause, look closely, and explore subtle textures and forms. The outdoor, 24/7 installation offers brief, immersive bursts of contemplation every few minutes.
Jan 23 – Feb 1, 2026
The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West
Hand-blown glass droplets hang in clusters, glowing an ethereal green under ultraviolet light and transforming a window into a luminous, shifting constellation. Visitors can wander past, catch reflections of themselves, and marvel at the unique, organic forms that blend fragility and architecture. The installation offers magical evening photo opportunities while celebrating craft, light, and the immersive interplay between material, space, and perception.
Jan 23 – Feb 2, 2026
The Bakery, 2 Fraser Avenue
Step into a playful, immersive environment where air, mist, and temperature shape intimate, unexpected spaces outdoors. Visitors can explore zones of fog, radiant heat, and microclimate effects that feel like secret interior worlds in the open air. Interactive prototypes and sculptural elements invite close inspection, making the installation engaging for kids and adults alike. It’s a multi-sensory encounter with atmosphere, space, and the invisible forces that surround us.
View the full Festival schedule and start planning your 10-days of DesignTO today!
