Hi from DesignTO! The 2026 DesignTO Festival is already just 2 weeks away. Starting January 23, 2026, Toronto will be home to 100+ exhibitions, installations, and events. We’re back in your inbox today to highlight industrial design at this year’s Festival. From lighting and furniture to textiles, ceramics, and beyond, read on to learn more about what you can see, experience, and learn at DesignTO 2026.
As a charitable arts organization DesignTO is committed to curating exhibitions, presentations and educational programming that increases the public’s knowledge and appreciation of design. Our annual 10-day Festival celebrates design as a multidisciplinary form of creative thinking and making, bringing together both the local and international art and design community. We believe that design can create a sustainable, just, and joyful world. Join us as we celebrate design this January!
The 2026 Festival offers a unique opportunity for attendees to engage meaningfully with industrial design. Some exhibitions will explore the power of community and collaboration to reimagine and reenergize public spaces, others will challenge viewers to rethink everyday objects, shifting perspectives and building new connections. Keep reading to learn about nine exhibitions, installations, and events happening during DesignTO 2026 with a focus on industrial design.
Explore industrial design at these nine exhibitions, installations, and events
Jan 23 – Feb 1, 2026
Gallery1065, 1065 Bloor Street West, Toronto
This immersive exhibition, brings together 15 Ontario-based artists and light designers. Through unique interpretations of ceramics, glass, textile, wood, and metal, this multidisciplinary group show celebrates the creativity, materiality, and technical innovation of the local Canadian maker community.
Jan 30, 2026
Free with RSVP
hollis+morris, 501 Alliance Avenue, Suite 4, Toronto
Take a deep dive into the 14,000 square foot Toronto production studio of hollis+morris, where furniture and lighting are designed, prototyped, manufactured and showcased on-site. Attendees will also have the opportunity to view two new exciting installations: “Colour Drenched” and “Stala: Dialogue in Light.”
Jan 23 – 28, 2026
The Plumb, 1655 Dufferin Street, Basement, Toronto
The Ensemble collective returns to the plumb gallery with a new group exhibition, bringing together both emerging and established Quebec designers. This exhibition features expansive scenography that radically transforms the space, offering a bold setting that reimagines how design pieces and artworks can be experienced – beyond the conventional boundaries of galleries, commercial venues, or residential environments.
Jan 23 – 24, 2026
Mjolk, 2959 Dundas Street West, Toronto
This exhibition explores a focus on craft and displays a curated collection of designs by Norm Architects from both small independent makers to larger workshops. A broad selection of material will be on display from hand carved wood, thrown stoneware, rope-embellished trays, and carved stone. These strong forms paired with natural materials with their inconsistencies and patinations represent a series objects and furniture individualized by time.
Jan 30, 2026
Free with RSVP
Ouroboros Studio Space, 178 Queens Quay East, Building A, Toronto
Meet Arcana Materials and Daniel Gruetter, the team of designers and reclaimed material enthusiasts who developed an experimental feature bar made from reclaimed bricks and wood. This reception marks the debut of a contemporary furniture design built from reclaimed brick and wood materials, reimagined by Arcana Materials and Daniel Gruetter.
Jan 23 – Feb 21, 2026
8×7, 1A – 32 Cawthra Ave, Toronto
What if tape could be an end unto itself? This exhibition features nine design studios, each investigating adhesive tape. Together, these objects will create an installation that looks at why and how the designers are connecting things: permanent or temporary, improvised or planned, literal or metaphorical.
Plus a talk presented by The Globe and Mail: A Studio Session with Jamie Wolfond.
Slow Furniture: Recent work from the Studio of Heidi Earnshaw
Jan 14 – Feb 28, 2026
Craft Ontario Gallery, 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 108, Toronto
Heidi Earnshaw’s furniture merges craftsmanship and contemporary design, emphasizing sustainability and mindful living. Her furniture is defined by clean lines, subtle detailing, and the honest use of natural materials—pieces that are both beautiful and practical, made to endure. This solo exhibition features works that invite viewers to slow down and find meaning in everyday life.
Transforming Scadding Court Community Centre Through Collaborative Design
Jan 23 – Feb 1, 2026
Scadding Court Community Centre, 707 Dundas Street West, Toronto
This exhibition highlights three exciting design projects that have transformed Scadding Court Community Centre. Breathing new life into this community space, students from Sheridan College’s Furniture program, St. Clements School, and OCADU’s Participatory Design class collaborated with the Scadding Court community and Codesign to create new lobby furniture, an art installation, and accessible wayfinding.
La Dolce Design: Celebrating Italian Design, from Vintage Icons to Modern Masters
Jan 23 – 31, 2026
Bonne Choice Showroom, 53 Judson Street, Etobicoke
Celebrating Italy’s rich design heritage, this exhibition features a curated selection of vintage icons showcased alongside contemporary masterpieces, serving as a dialogue between the past and present. The exhibition underscores Italy’s longstanding leadership in arts and craftsmanship, while illustrating their ongoing influence on the design world.
Plus a talk presented by The Globe and Mail: The Collected Home.
View the full Festival schedule and start planning your 10-days of DesignTO today!
