Canada’s annual design festival, DesignTO, brought people together from all across Toronto to celebrate the creative minds behind the artistry.

Canada’s largest and leading annual design festival never fails to impress. As trends, social issues, and talent emerge, the DesignTO festival celebrates bringing design and people together to create a sustainable, just and joyful future.

DesignTO Festival 2024 was momentous, featuring over 500 artists and designers and welcoming over one hundred and sixty thousand visitors. The festival happened online and in person at venues across Toronto, bringing the city and its homegrown talent into the spotlight.

The popularity of this festival is just one aspect of its significance: What are we without design? Thoughtful design promotes comfort, sophistication, and creativity. Beyond any art or craft, it is the heart and soul of innovation.

DesignTO Festival continues to thrive and inspire attendees and the next generation of designers. City Life Magazine is excited to share a select list of this year’s exhibits that left a lasting impression. Each exhibit was unique in its form of expression. However, the overarching message with all of them was that a world without design is a world without imagination.

designto.org
@designtofestival

JUGANDO A SANAR
A series of sculptural pieces by Nadira Narine explored themes of childhood trauma and “dopamine decor” and their relationship to each other. The award-winning Panama-born artist expressed her innermost feelings in this series by incorporating objects and memories from her childhood into her art, creating a whimsically lighthearted yet emotionally driven experience with the hope that we’d reflect on our childhoods with touches of nostalgia, healing and positivity.
@hyperprecious

AROUND STRANGE PHOOL’S TABLESCAPE
Mimosa Haque, a Bangladeshi-Canadian, chose the floating lobby of the Ace Hotel Toronto to set an intricate tablescape installation that explored otherworldly gardenscapes and newfangled floral design, inspired by nature’s imperfections and the architectural elements of the space.
@acehoteltoronto

ALL EYES ON YOU
A thought-provoking mirror installation by Anna Pogossyan explored the profound connection between self- reflection, perception, and the human experience. Its goal was to ask the provoking question: What are you in your eyes and the eyes of others? Inspired by Carl Jung’s model of the psyche, this young award-winning artist believes that eyes are more than just our source of sight — they are mirrors of our soul, conveying an array of emotions and behaviours. Pogossyan has garnered notable showings for her artistic work, and her potential is limitless.
annpogossyan.com
@annpogossyan

JULIET: A JOURNEY FROM VERONA
Celebrating the creative process behind the international award-winning “Juliet” seating collection, this exhibit comprised a dining chair, counter stool, and bar stool, every element thoughtfully considered to offer an exceptional user experience while maturing beautifully with time. Crafted in Verona, Italy, these pieces draw inspiration from the tale of Romeo and Juliet. In this spirit, Juliet: A Journey from Verona was a celebration of the passion, innovation, and artistry of product design.
www.republicofiibyiv.com
@republicofiibyiv

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY WORK
Created and curated by Sean Hazell, this exhibit highlighted artifacts from the recent past, present, and future of work. The showcased items, both real and fictional, evoked themes of identity, inequity, and motivation. From stress balls to smartphones, what may seem to be ordinary objects are symbols of the intricate forces at our workplace. Moreover, they tell stories of our forever-changing work life and how they are changing us.
www.museumofcontemporarywork.com
@museumofcontemporarywork

BOUTET STUDIO SHOWCASE
The narrative of this exhibition was created by carefully observing the margins and intersections of the fabric of society — people’s needs and skills that are often overlooked. DESIGNwith aims to bring traditional methods of creating and alternative approaches to design — that consider the whole person, such as human- centred design, design for accessibility and design for care — to the forefront.
www.designwith.ca
@designwith.ca

AT WHAT POINT DOES IRRATIONAL THOUGHT BECOME RATIONAL?
Eric Lachance spent three months collecting as many chairs as he could to present the process of a recurring action in sculptural form. For him, chairs take on a profound significance when viewed through a larger lens as members of the family household, they hold emotions, traditions and experiences. Lachance is a Toronto-based artist known for his work in spatial, furniture, and product-design media, which explores the intersection of human activity and the built environment — its historical significance and iconography.
@the.chance

BOUTET STUDIO SHOWCASE
Francois Boutet’s collection was a forward-thinking reimagining of classic pop-art subjects. He designs and makes all of his characters completely from scratch in a variety of media, rendering their individual dispositions with impressive delicacy. The Quebec artist’s work has been highly acclaimed both in Canada and internationally for more than 22 years.
www.boutetstudio.com
@boutetstudio

WALKING TOUR OF FOUR MODERNEST HOUSES
Architect Kyra Clarkson, co- owner of MODERNest Inc., led a walking tour to highlight four houses built by MODERNest. Designed and developed by architects, the houses were within a ten-minute walk of one another in the Trinity Bellwoods/Queen West neighbourhood. Each home was designed for a family to thrive in the cultural life of downtown, and all feature good spaces, lots of light, modern detailing, energy efficiency, solid construction, natural materials, and family-friendly and healthy living environments.
www.modernest.ca
@modernest_inc

BUBBLE WALL: SPECIAL EDITION
An interactive art installation by Chaimi Design Collective that collected moments, feelings, and thoughts of individuals and tried to find the thing that connects us all. The bubble tea store was more than just a home to the “Bubble Wall,” it celebrated the culture that produced it. Participants were able to scan each bubble to read others’ stories and thoughts and share theirs.
@thebobaroom

GREAT FRIENDS
A collection of colourful oversized friendship bracelets by multidisciplinary designer Laura Carwardine, who produced them using the same techniques as typical bracelets but with much larger materials. Known for her fun colour combinations and for finding interesting colour palettes in everyday life, with “Great Friends” she brought fun patterns and vibrancy into interior spaces, playing on the nostalgia of making and exchanging bracelets with friends.
@lauracarwardine

Photo Courtesy Of DesignTO