Interior Design Show
THE CONCEPT: It’s all in the family at the 11th incarnation of the week’s marquee interiors extravaganza. The Sibling Revelry feature exhibit spotlights design-savvy brothers and sisters including Jason and Lars Dressler, Glenn and David Dixon, Theo and Sarah Richardson and My and Thien Ta-Trung of Montreal’s Periphere, who all come together to create inspiring spaces.
LOOK FOR: Emerging names from across Canada who show their stuff in the show’s Studio North, Prototype and DesignGenNext areas. Ones we’re watching include TOMA Objects, Nicole Tarasick and Winnipeg’s Vik & Fougere. And don’t miss Blackwatch, the new outdoor furniture collection from Canadian fashion legend Alfred Sung.
THE PARTY: Spot the likes of Douglas Coupland and Allegra Hicks at tonight’s (Thursday, January 27) All You Need Is Love bash, and preview First Seating, an exhibition of 20 Vitra Panton chairs reworked by Bruce Mau, Karim Rashid and others. The cheeky seats will be auctioned off to benefit Casey House.
Thursday to Sunday (January 27 to 30, professional trade day Friday) at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (255 Front). Opening night tickets $60 at the door. General admission tickets Saturday and Sunday $22 at the door. Interiordesignshow.com.
Come Up To My Room
THE CONCEPT: Come Up To My Room’s curatorial team chooses the show’s designers based on their portfolios without seeing proposals for how they plan to outfit the Gladstone Hotel’s second-floor rooms and public spaces. Work by 2011’s lineup, including Dennis Lin, the Map Collective and J2D’s John Peterson, Jana Macalik and Diana Watters, is unveiled tomorrow (Friday, January 28).
LOOK FOR: Come Up To My Room’s retrospective show helps mark the Gladstone’s 5th anniversary and fills the ground-floor Art Bar with images and objects from design shows past.
THE PARTY: DJs Denise Benson and Joe Blow spin the crowd of pro and indie creative types into a tizzy at the original Design Week love-in on Saturday (January 29) from 10 pm. It all happens in the hotel’s ballroom under a cloud of flashing lights created by LeuWebb Project’s Christine Leu and Alan Webb.
Friday to Sunday (January 28 to 30) at the Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen West). General admission $10. Free admission for Design Talks and the Love Design Party.
MADE At Home
THE CONCEPT: After three years of presenting Radiant Dark, MADE’s Shaun Moore and Julie Nicholson are bringing their design show home to Dundas West, outfitting the apartment above their shop with new furniture, lighting and home accessories. The exhibition mixes returning designers like FELT Studio and Grant Heaps with new names including Sarah Nasby and John Webster.
LOOK FOR: Elsworthy Wang’s hanging light fixture created by knitting together lengths of electro-luminescent wire that glows fluorescent yellow when plugged in. A table by Jason Wheeler mimics the simple shape of a matchbox, while 608 Design’s Evan Bare debuts his SMS modular sofa. Porcelain master Jeremy Hatch also has a piece in MADE’s cooler gallery downstairs.
THE PARTY: Saturday’s (January 29) opening is spread out between 3 and 8 pm to accommodate the design-crowd crush in the smaller space. Stop by on Sunday (January 30) at 1 pm for a walk-and-talk tour of the apartment with select designers.
Thursday (January 27) to February 12 at Upstairs at MADE (867 Dundas West). Free.
Don’t miss…
CAPACITY, to February 6, at Bookhou (798 Dundas West). Katherine Morley and Erin McCutcheon curate pieces by 10 female designers including Arounna Khounnoraj and Michelle Ivankovic who work in ceramic, glass, textiles and more. capacitytoronto.com.
IMAGINANDO LOTA, January 28, 4 to 8 pm at George Brown College (230 Richmond East). Students from George Brown’s Institute Without Boundaries reimagine the earthquake-damaged Chilean city of Lota. institutewithoutboundaries.com.
NORTHERN LIGHTS, to February 3 at Atelier 688 (688 Richmond West). Designers focused on reworking found materials create light fixtures from milk bottles and salvaged signal lights. atelier668.com.
TOOLS, to January 30 at The Department (1389 Dundas West). The team behind last year’s Heavy Metal exhibit focus on the instruments of design and manufacturing for 2011. toolstoronto.com.
Toronto Design Offsite (todesignoffsite.com). Log on to this online local design hub and download a free iPhone app to help you navigate the week’s shows, parties and talks.
