/Get Inspired/Toronto Design Week

Best of Design Week, Pt 8: Steam-bent Ash and a Psychedelic Tea Party


We are awarding 100 of the best products, installations and artworks we spot throughout Toronto Design Week with our Designlines Loves tags, specially designed by Sali Tabacchi.

Below is the eighth batch of designs that caught our attention. Keep track of everything we’ve tagged in our master list and check back as we spotlight more of our great finds in the days ahead.

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1 Common Copper Stool by Andrew Reesor
Reesor updates a farmhouse fundamental – the milking stool – in copper-clad maple.

Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 22, at Untraditional at Made, 867 Dundas St W

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2 Water Cooler by Jeremy Hatch
As well known for his wit as his technical prowess, Hatch yet again did not disappoint. Water cooler is a nod to the ubiquitous Styrofoam ice chests and the institutional water fountain. This talk drink is crafted in porcelain and blue-painted steel. Not one to waste materials (or a laugh), Hatch transformed the lid of the cooler into a serving platter, complete with ornate, gilded hardware.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 22, at Untraditional at Made, 867 Dundas St W

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3 Dick O’Kane Chair by Paterson Composites
Paterson Composites is the go-to for racing yacht and catamaran manufacturers relying on the durable, lightweight strength of carbon fibre to win races in international waters. On the side, Paterson experiments with the material, producing lighting fixes and furniture. This chair probably weighs less than a cup of coffee, is comfortable and has an incredible internal pattern.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 23, at Upper 751, 751 Queen St W

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4 Curiouser by WC The Store
Past the gnarly briar-esque window vinyl is a psychedelic tea party in a rabbit hole. A taxidermy fox holds court over a bizarre cast of characters, including a giant hen, a headless top hat, and chiseled bust parked around a 19th Century butchers’ table. Could it get any curiouser?
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 23, at WC The Store, 38 Ossington Ave

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5 Maple knives set by Warehouse
This was a real treat to see in person. In a pop-up shop setting, Ottawa’s Warehouse (a side shoot of branding agency The Federal Inc.) showed displayed its prototype of the now-in-production, Red Dot Design Award–winning, Canadian maple and German steel knives. More kitchen objets than tools, the accompanying magnetized cutting board is wall-mountable for display.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 23, at The Shop, at Bosley Real Estate, 1108 Queen St W

6 Vancouver Outside the Box
Nine designers and artists working and making in Vancouver packed up a crate of their wares and shipped it off to Toronto. Here it was unpacked and displayed, a fish bowl into this community’s particular aesthetics and material exploration. Among the goodies: Dear Human’s tiles (on the wall), prints by Rachael Ashe, and colourful, wheel-thrown stoneware Gladstone cans by Cathy Terepocki with cork lids.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 23, at No Foundation, 1082 Queen St W

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7 Branch Lamp by LGA Architectural Partners
LGA Architectural Partners’ flat pack lampshades – made from wood reclaimed from Toronto’s 2013 ice storm – can be assembled into a hanging fixture or table lamp by simply snapping it together around a light cord. With the help of Hot Pop Factory the lamps’ unique fins are digitally carved and then perforated with staggered openings which, when the light shines through evoke the filtering effect of foliage.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 24, at Philip Sparks, 162 Ossington Ave

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8 Steamy Intentions by Lubo
Lubo Brezina, one the city’s master wood workers, is well known for his substantial Douglas Fir dining tables and hefty pine benches, all made from reclaimed materials. This fixation with upcycling also manifests in a completely different body of work inspired by the economical use of wood in barn building. Steamy Intentions are steam-bending experiments with strips of ash to create functional and/or non-functional forms.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 24 at Lubo, 1659 Dundas St W

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9 A Priori by Nathan Clarke
This sideboard by Nathan Clarke – currently completing his Craft and Design diploma in furniture at Sheridan College – with its variety of storage and display spaces, is a playful exploration of planes and voids. This European beech wonder was part of Do Design.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 24 at Sovereign State, 827 Dundas St W

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10 Foci pendants by the National Design Collective
Available in ash and walnut, the Foci pendants are pierced through with a solid brass rod that adjusts light diffusion to three different settings. This great find was found along Dundas Street West’s Do Design festival.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 24 at Ervaneria Victoria Inc., 920 Dundas St W

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11 Column Side Table by Khalil Jamal
Also experienced during Do Design was this reimagination of a stacking toy. A reconfigurable side table, it has 22 felt rings rimmed with colourful aluminum strips.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 24 at Wonder Pens, 906 Dundas St W

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12 Pour Me by Jenna Stanton
Pour Me – also found during Do Design – is a series of porcelain decanters and drinking vessels made for self-medicating. Each features silkscreened enamel decals and underglaze.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 24 at Barberella, 891 Dundas St W

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13 Manhattan Lamp by Rodrigo Caula
At Sitting Room, Rodrigo Caula’s two-part, pill-shaped table lamp emulates Carrara marble, complete with believable veining, soft orange glow and retractable cord. Caula is a Canadian industrial designer currently living in Milan.
Tagged by Tory Healy on Jan 24 at Working Title Shop, 126 Davenport Rd


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