Issue 1, 2018: Toronto's Most Talented

DESIGNLINES

Your ultimate guide to Toronto's best contemporary design destinations

DESIGNLINES2 min read
Household Confessional
“I definitely have my weeks of failed adulting where I’ve looked around my apartment and thought, yikes.” What is your name? Alexandra Caufin What have you done for us lately? I caught up with five inspiring creatives driving the art and design scene
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Urban Update
1 GLASS HAUS Hamilton’s beacon of light and life – the Gage Park Greenhouse – undergoes a 1,300-square-metre expansion designed by sustainability experts McCallumSather. One of the largest of its kind in Ontario and inspired by 19th-century teak gree
DESIGNLINES2 min readEconomics
Design Week
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-EIGHT HOURS of encounters in the howling cold. Oh, and a few parties thrown in for good measure. Welcome to Design Week 2018. For design lovers, it’s the most wonderful time of year, with over 100 exhibitions to see, stretching
DESIGNLINES1 min readFashion
Paradise City
The Euclid mirror makes everything look better. Crafted by Peter Coolican in a workshop on industrial Sterling Road, the steam-bent solid white oak arch embodies Shaker minimalism. For modern homes, it can either be mounted or allowed to lean against
DESIGNLINES5 min read
More Sure-fire Events
If Ferris Bueller had another day off, he’d spend it at P.A. Day Camp. The full-day, studio-based program offers young designers hands-on instruction in such creative fields as graphic design, architecture, industrial design and mixed media. Upcoming
DESIGNLINES1 min read
Northwest Passage
WOULD YOU BELIEVE this is a simple bath for two in Parkdale and not a high-end Scandinavian spa? Indeed, it belongs to a renovated 1900s bay-and-gable home, one that had been split up into apartments. A space-doubling addition allowed The Practice of
DESIGNLINES1 min read
Wonder Walls
“THE BATHROOM WAS A THROWBACK to the 1980s,” says Kelly Buffey, co-principal of Atelier Kastelic Buffey, “complete with black bath tub” – a horror to an integrated architectural and interior design firm known for mixing functionality with minimal det
DESIGNLINES2 min readScience & Mathematics
Jordan Söderberg Mills
WHEN Jordan Söderberg Mills set out to create an Instagram filter you could hold in the palm of your hand, he turned to glass prisms and physical optics over HTML5. His miniature cubes are completely analogue and can be rested on an iPhone camera to
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Antony
AS LIGHTING DESIGNERS, Christian Lo and David Ryan were up to their elbows in bedazzled chandeliers and custom lighting systems – some with steep price tags – when reality hit them hard. “The objects were out of touch with what we prefer aestheticall
DESIGNLINES1 min read
Chantilly Ace
CREAMY PINK FLAT-SAWN OAK, ladyfinger-shaped tiles and grey marble with mousse-like patterning: if this renovation were a cake, its master bath would be the icing. It will be difficult to keep hands from running across every surface of this space, si
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Yaw Tony
A PURPLE ANTELOPE, seafoam-green vines, and a bull wearing a neckerchief jockey in the spokes of a fiery-red wheel. In the middle, a rocking horse is accented by shoots of tropical flowers. It’s not an acid trip – it’s a silk scarf by architect and d
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Julia Dault
EVERY ARTIST OR DESIGNER entertains a dialogue with their materials. For some, the conversation remains covert. For Julia Dault, it becomes the art itself. Untitled 39, 9:30-11:50 AM, September 26, 2017 is one of her latest sculptures in which sheets
DESIGNLINES3 min read
As Wood as It Gets
IN TORONTO’S TRICKY URBAN CONDITIONS, Studio Junction deftly makes magic, preserving a sense of architectural integrity while leaving its signature on infill houses and classic brick piles. Founding architects Peter Tan and Christine Ho Ping Kong are
DESIGNLINES2 min readEconomics
Partisans
STEP INTO THE OFFICES of multidisciplinary architecture firm Partisans, and the world as you know it changes. In their world, a dated parking garage becomes a landmark waterside hotel. The long-dormant Hearn power plant is reborn as the stomping grou
DESIGNLINES2 min readArchitecture
Raise the Roof
BEFORE STARTING ON A RECENT COMMISSION in Toronto’s Russell Hill neighbourhood, Luc Bouliane surveyed his clients’ art collection, which includes original pieces by Norval Morrisseau and Annie Pootoogook. Many were languishing in storage, so the arch
DESIGNLINES15 min readFashion
Design Accessories
The brainchild of graphic designer Chris Hanz, Average is an ode to functionalist sensibilities, specializing in high-quality desk supplies and housewares with a stripped-down aesthetic and clear purpose – you won’t find any decorative items here. Yo
DESIGNLINES1 min read
Closet Systems
Let CC’s consultants walk you through the process of selecting customized organization and storage solutions for the garage, office, bedroom, kitchen and more: think Murphy beds, workbenches with drawers and wardrobes with adjustable shelving, as wel
DESIGNLINES3 min read
Kids Furniture
This enchanting Rosedale store is well stocked with decor treats sourced from around the world for tots and parents. A copper cooler from &K Amsterdam, for instance, keeps the champagne chilled when it comes time to welcome your new arrival; meanwhil
DESIGNLINES5 min readFashion
Lighting
The intricate and imaginative lighting here is sourced from American, Israeli and local artists – some is even crafted on-site. This intimate gallery displays Swarovski crystal, as well as luminaires in metal and handmade glass that has been fused, b
DESIGNLINES24 min read
Contemporary Furniture
Interior designers flock to 18 Watt to access exclusive continental furniture and lighting. The no-nonsense showroom packs in scores of examples of avant-garde Spanish seating from Beltá and CasaDesús. The Spanish influence continues with poufs, benc
DESIGNLINES9 min read
Flooring, Surfacing & Tiles
It seems that low-maintenance quartz surfacing is everywhere. But have you touched large Caesarstone slabs while consulting a pro about its many uses? This brand-new 300-square-metre showroom allows you to do just that. A long wall showcases all 62 v
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Home Entertainment Systems
High fidelity meets high design at this Danish electronics brand’s multi-zone space, which emphasizes technological excellence. Offerings include home-theatre set-ups and ready-to-rock audio equipment imbued with smart wireless technology. The sculpt
DESIGNLINES11 min read
Kitchen & Bath
The kitchen and bathroom fixtures at AC range from traditional to contemporary. Among the 50-plus brands in store are faucets by Blanco and Hansgrohe, rain showers by Aquabrass and Dornbracht, commercial-grade sinks by Elkay, elegant freestanding soa
DESIGNLINES3 min read
Outdoor Furniture
Build your backyard oasis with Tuuci parasols and colourful egg-shaped LED garden lights that stand up to a half-metre tall. ARD’s Madrid extension dining tables, featuring powdercoated aluminum with tempered glass tops, pair with stackable Cosmo din
DESIGNLINES4 min read
Rugs & Carpets
There are flooring options galore across this showroom, which houses a versatile selection of contemporary and traditional styles in an extensive array of carpet tiles, hand- and machine-made area rugs, hardwood flooring and wooden planks. Standouts
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Textiles
This “design concierge” has fabric, wallpaper and rugs – plus all the necessary installers – at the ready for interior designers. Over 10,000 fabrics are on hand, from such top brands as Blendworth, Maxwell, Pindler and Telafina. Many are hung with e
DESIGNLINES6 min readFashion
Vintage & Reclaimed Furniture
Owner Lawrence Blairs recently expanded his collection of refurbished 1950s and ’60s originals – from the likes of the Eameses, Verner Panton and Pierre Paulin – to include post-modernist designs from the ’70s and early ’80s. There are also plenty of
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Wallcoverings & Paint
This Annex shop stocks wallpaper and floor coverings otherwise impossible to find in the city, including Object Carpet’s Rugxstyle collection of incredibly thin industrial-grade area rugs with colour-tinted, geometric shapes and Eley Kishimoto’s vibr
DESIGNLINES5 min read
Windows, Doors & Fireplaces
Here, it’s business in the front and beautiful sliding barn doors in the back. All custom doors and furniture are made on site using woods that range from pine to teak, complete with crafted-right-here hardware. Recent projects include a walnut slab
DESIGNLINES2 min read
The Take Away Artist
FOR A SELF-CONFESSED HOMEBODY, Ness Lee sure gets around. By far her most recognizable motif – now a familiar inhabitant across the city – is a voluptuous, long-haired figure, often rendered in ink, that has drawn comparisons to Japanese folk art, su
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Workplace Furniture
The dashing task chairs, desk sets and storage found in this showroom channel the verve of Suits, courtesy such design stars as Marcel Wanders, Jasper Morrison and Patricia Urquiola. Lust-worthy leather pieces from Poltrona Frau add luxe, while Cappe

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