DesignTO’s mission is to curate exhibitions, presentations and educational programming to increase the public’s knowledge and appreciation of design and its role in creating a sustainable, just and joyful world.
As one of our core principles, sustainability, referring to ecological, social, economic, local, climate action, and innovation, is reflected in our Festival programming. Read on to learn about the events, exhibitions and window installations exploring a more sustainable world at the 2024 Festival.
Adrift
Exhibition, Jan 19-28, 2024
‘Adrift’ by Marney McDiarmid speaks to the need to align our actions with our dependence on one another and the Earth. Ceramic flowers are suspended against a backdrop of paper-cut seeds, disconnected and missing their roots, yet still searching for firmer ground.
Built In: A Tiny Living Case Study & Tour
Event – Tour, Jan 24-28 2024
How do you live comfortably in 450 square feet? Local designer and cabinetmaker STUDIO HAND presents a tour of their recent tiny condo project.
Circular Living Lab
Exhibition, Jan 19-28, 2024
The Circular Living Lab aims to act as an incubator for circular construction in Toronto, supporting innovative designers who are exploring the potential for material salvage and reuse.
Coffee Culture: Ritual Comforts and Kōhi Coat
Window Installation, Jan 11 – Feb 1, 2024
‘Coffee Culture’ is an ongoing body of work by Jennifer Coghill experimenting with a specific set of cast-off materials: used tea bags, coffee filters and discarded coffee bags. Two pieces, ‘Ritual Comforts’ and ‘Kōhi Coat’, will be on display.
Conversations With Trees
Exhibition, Jan 25-28, 2024
Using trees as the central vehicle of exploration, this multi-sensory exhibition by Lori Harrison and Pooja Pawaskar combines wood sculpture, objects, visual media and scent to create dialogue, allowing us to reconnect to our humanity and to the land.
DesignTO Talks: Across Land and Water
Event – Talk, Jan 21, 2024, 2:00pm-3:00pm
Explore the relationship between natural and man-made environments, and nature’s fragility, in a presentation and discussion with graphic designer and artist Michèle Guevara and interdisciplinary artist Janet Hinkle.
DesignTO Talks: Dematerialized
Event – Talk, Jan 24-25, 6:00pm-8:00pm
DesignTO’s ninth annual symposium brings together eight multidisciplinary experts to explore the complexities of dematerialization in an increasingly digital world.
DesignTO Tours: hollis+morris
Event – Tour, Jan 19-26, 2024
‘DesignTO Tours: hollis+morris’ is an opportunity to take a deep dive into the new 14,000 square foot Toronto production studio of hollis+morris, where furniture and lighting are designed, prototyped, manufactured and showcased on-site.
Forest Underwater
Exhibition, Jan 19 – Feb 16, 2024
“Seaweed” is the common name for the numerous species of marine algae that grow in lakes, rivers and oceans comprising what has been called the forest underwater. Using seaweed, artist Gitte Hansen exhibits fabrics and textile collages using these plants.
From Theory to Practice: A Caring Design Lab
Exhibition, Jan 22-27, 2024
DESIGNwith is opening their doors to share their latest innovative soft goods line in collaboration with the Regent Park Sewing Studio to reveal design for inclusion beyond products — the co-design methodology.
In Flux: Changing / Rearranging
Window Installation, Jan 19-28, 2024
Reflecting on recent challenges faced by Toronto’s Artscape community, this modular ceramic bas-relief by Elena Mahno invites you to consider the balance between development and cultural preservation, between those who remain and those who disappear in a city defined by perpetual change.
Introducing: The Biodiversity+ Design Toolkit
Event – Talk, Jan 21, 2024, 1:00-4:00pm
Join TEALEAVES for a cup of tea to sip and learn about a new design toolkit that spotlights biodiversity. Including a panel discussion with IBM’s Head of Canada Studios, Karel Vredenburg, and OCAD U’s Interim Dean of Design, Kathy Moscou.
JDH Projects
Window Installation, Jan 19-28, 2024
An installation by Toronto artist Jeremy Do Hyun Joo of JDH Projects at Aesop Queen Street West.
Life Line
Window Installation, Jan 20-28, 2024
This swing by Adrianne Bou-zaid and Raha Shahi was created from “lifeline” rope originally used to protect workers at heights. Crafted using over 300 feet of rope, ‘Life Line’ reuses waste material, while figuratively maintaining its original purpose of supporting human life.
Nature’s Child
Exhibition, Jan 19-28, 2024
Representing the spirit of Mother Nature’s child, this 12-foot-tall installation by Mike Geiger serves as a playful reminder that our relationship with nature can not only be harmonious, but also filled with a sense of fun, light-heartedness, and optimism.
Nemat-Khana: A place to keep blessings
Window Installation, Jan 19-28, 2024
Designer Tahir Mahmood presents a modern take on the ‘Nemat-Khana’ – Urdu for “pie safe” – evoking the romance of tradition, the practicality of sustainable living. Once a treasure for food, now a symbol of heritage.
New Work
Exhibition, Jan 21-24, 2024
Join us for an exclusive look into Concord Lighting’s new collection. We are proud to present our latest collection of light fixtures and objects since Concord’s founding. ‘New Work’ explores the dynamic between craft and design processes.
Objects of Desire
Exhibition, Jan 25–Jan 28, 2024
‘Objects of Desire’ by Ingrid Garcia showcases unwanted objects, prompting an exploration of their environmental impact—whether they once held value and faded or were designed for rapid obsolescence.
Pattern Paper Lights
Window Installation, Jan 19-28, 2024
‘Pattern Paper Lights’ is an installation of lamps using Comrags’ pattern paper by Owen Bayliss and Judy Gunhouse. These lamps celebrate the power of transforming the old into something new, all while reinforcing the importance of sustainable, community-oriented design.
Santuario
Exhibition, Jan 19-26, 2024
‘Santuario’, Spanish for “sanctuary,” is a 6.5-foot nest with a reflective dome, merging themes of nesting and self-reflection. Rooted in the concept of home, it mirrors the viewer in an egg-like shape, crafted by hand with organic and recycled materials by Oliviana Cinco.
Second Life Sculpture
Window Installation, Jan 19-28, 2024
Repurposing salvaged 4 x 8’ AluPanels from hoarding projects, artist Ron Wild (aka Raw’n’ Wild) endeavours to explore the alternative use possibilities of this resource. From thin, hard, flat, square sheets he prototyped complementary smooth, curved, and voluminous sculptural elements.
Shifting Grounds
Window Installation, Jan 19-28, 2024
‘Shifting Grounds’ draws from the local ecologies present within the Greater Toronto Area. Through the use of digital collage and sculpture, Janet Hinkle provides a unique glimpse into a future reality that melds together natural and man made worlds.
Tideline
Exhibition, Jan 19-28, 2024
‘Tideline’ refers to sinuous lines of floating debris found where two ocean currents converge. Artists Meghan Macdonald and Sarah Sears utilize found, salvaged and repurposed materials from nature and the built environment. Within stitched threads and poured concrete, these materials are suspended and celebrated.
Tribute
Window Installation, Jan 19-28, 2024
‘Tribute’ is a textile installation by Omar Tarek Zayed and Linjuan Dai that critically examines Toronto’s landscape while proposing speculative geographic futures in honour of Toronto’s waterways.
Urban Affairs Forum | Shaping Public Spaces: Community Engagement
Event – Talk, Jan 23, 2024, 7:00-8:30pm
A public forum organized by the Toronto Society of Architects exploring how to make public engagement processes related to the built environment truly meaningful, effective and inclusive.
Water Weavings
Window Installation, Jan 19-28, 2024
‘Water Weavings’ by Michèle Guevara aims to bring awareness to nature’s fragility. Our bodies are 60% water; we are clearly interwoven with nature. Yet why do we insist on destroying and polluting it, harming our very own life source and essence?
This is just a select few of over 100 free window installations, exhibitions and events at the 2024 DesignTO Festival, January 19-28, 2024. Visit the Festival Schedule to learn more.
