Kick off the new 10-day Festival at the DesignTO Launch Party! Mix and mingle with independent designers, architects, artists, makers, and curators at the event that brings Toronto’s creative community together.

Held in the historic St. Lawrence Hall, enjoy $6 beverages, complimentary catering by The Tempered Room, a site-specific installation created by studio rat, and music by DJ Sigourney Beaver and DJ Joe Blow. If you were at last year’s party, you know this means that there will be dancing!

As a fundraiser for the non-profit Festival, all proceeds will go to help achieve our mission to advance design culture in Canada.

About the installation by studio rat:

studio rat’s installation will respond to the architectural identity of the historic St. Lawrence Hall. Guests will interact with multiple threshold spaces made of translucent pink plastic, resulting in a playful and surreal party experience.

studio rat is a design collective that focuses on installation work and experimental design fabrication practices. Established by fourth-year interior design students Dominique Di Libero and Emily Allan, studio rat is exploring how fabricated pneumatic environments can create common space within a variety of contexts. Their current work juxtaposes pre-existing architectural conditions with dream-like inflated spaces.

This installation is funded in part by the Brookfield + Yabu Pushelberg Award for Innovation in Interior Design (2017), administered by the Design Fabrication Zone at Ryerson University.

The DesignTO Launch Party is generously supported by the King East Design District (KEDD) and The Tempered Room, with media partner Dezeen.