Save the date and get ready for all things design. The 14th annual DesignTO will take place from January 19 to January 28, 2024, the Festival showcases over 100 free events including window installations, tours, talks, and exhibitions by over 300 artists and designers across the city of Toronto.

Featuring an array of creative disciplines, the Festival showcases the interconnectedness of art, design, technology, and culture, reflecting the diversity of contemporary design. The 10-day Festival includes exciting projects featuring material and de-material explorations, a trip into the virtual worlds of AI and videogames, studio tours, multidisciplinary conversations, product launches, parties, and artifacts from the past, present, and future of work.

Bringing people together to design a better future is the heartbeat of DesignTO. The organization curates free exhibitions, presentations, and educational programming to increase the public’s knowledge of, and appreciation for, design, making design a shared and inclusive experience, and forefronting its role in creating a sustainable, just, and joyful world. There is inspiration, information, and fun to be had by all. Local and international visitors will be engaged with countless examples of personal expression and big picture problem-solving. 

Peruse the schedule and plan to see it all. 

For additional information and other media resources, visit the DesignTO News Room.

Elsewhere Collective, 'Crack in the Case' installation, Nuit Blanche 2023. Photo © Image courtesy of 'DesignTO Launch Party' installation artists elsewhere Collective

Below, nine exhibitions and events that exemplify the three pillars that act as the structural backbone to our programming have been cherry-picked – joy, justice, and sustainability. RSVP to these events now and come meet this year’s headlining thinkers and makers.

Joy:

A room is a home, is a playground 
Jan 26 - 28 at Ace Hotel Toronto

This site-specific event champions fun by design. Led by Montreal/Toronto-based creative practice Studio Rat, and produced by Ace Hotel Toronto, they welcome free play throughout the inflatable installation and across the three-day event. Join them for a conversation with their collaborators on the opening day.

DesignTO Festival Launch Party 
Jan 19th at Harbourfront Centre

The DesignTO Launch Party takes over the Harbourfront Centre this year on Toronto’s waterfront. Experience a one-night-only immersive multimedia installation by Toronto-based elsewhere Collective, and be the first to see ‘Future Matters’, featuring the work of nine local and international artists and designers. Dance all night to music by DJs Fly Lady Di and Adeola.

Lucid Ideas 
Jan 19 - Feb 16 at Umbra Concept Store

Through material and form, translucent properties can be used to create unique visual outcomes that conceal, diffuse, or reveal. To what extent can the process of obscuring light be transformative? This exhibition highlights nine prototypical examples of how translucency can be considered in homeware design.

Justice:

Golden Beauty Supply
Jan 19 - 28 at 95 St. Clair Avenue W 

Upon her arrival in Canada, artist Ehiko Odeh grappled with finding community. It was through braiding hair that she fostered connections in the city. Her work explores the attention Black people give to their hair as it creates moments of intimacy, vulnerability, and trust. Enjoy her sculptural and painting interventions among 1970s era beauty supplies and advertisements.

StudioRat, 'Garden of Inflated Delights', Ace Hotel 2023. Photo © image courtesy of 'A room is a home, is a playground' installation

Ideas Forum: Architecture of Imagined Spaces 
Jan 23rd online

Organized in partnership with the Toronto Society of Architects, the ‘Ideas Forum’ features five fast-paced presentations exploring the intersection of real and virtual built environments. How can technology help expand our (architectural) imagination? Join to learn the implications of the shrinking gap between virtual and non-virtual worlds on labour, safety, and authorship.

Urban Canvas: Empowering Youth Through Public Art and Creative Media
Jan 21st at Innis Town Hall Theatre

Youths have the potential to make meaningful contributions to the design processes of communities and cities. Featuring urban planners, artists, and community organizers, this panel discussion will explore compelling case studies and best practices that have effectively harnessed art to embed diverse youth voices in community building.

Sustainability:

Circular Living Lab

Jan 19 - 28 at Circular Living Lab (CLL)

Demolition creates unnecessary energy, carbon, and material waste in a climate crisis, while also erasing the cultural and social stories that are embedded into a place. CLL aims to act as an incubator for circular construction and urban mining in Toronto, supporting innovative designers who are leveraging the cultural and environmental potential of what’s existing.

DesignTO Talks: Dematerialized
Jan 24 & 25 online

DesignTO’s ninth annual symposium brings together eight multidisciplinary experts to explore the complexities of de-materialization in an increasingly digital world. Speakers will cover such topics as the future of digital artifacts, the ecological impact of computation, spaces for Indigenous self-determination, walking as an immaterial urban practice, and more.

Morgan Possberg Denne. ‘Old friend’, 2023. Photo © Greg Ellison, courtesy of 'Future Matters' exhibitor Morgan Possberg Denne

Future Matters 
Jan 19 - Apr 28 at Gallery 235, Harbourfront Centre

Materials carry complex narratives, and histories are embedded within them. This multidisciplinary exhibition – featuring the work of eight local and international designers and artists – addresses such interconnected themes as colonialism, sustainability, cultural significance and site specificity of materials, interplay between technology and hand-based techniques, revitalization of traditional cultural practices, and more.

The Festival happens both online and in-person at venues across the City of Toronto. Most events and exhibitions are free, but some require a RSVP or purchased tickets. All window installations are viewable from the outdoors.

Join DesignTO in celebrating design’s transformative power. Engage with them on social media, online, or in person, and immerse yourself in a world of design, as every interaction enriches our collective experience.

DesignTO acknowledges funding support for the 2024 DesignTO Festival from the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, Ontario Arts Council, and the Government of Ontario.

DesignTO is a non-profit organization that curates exhibitions, presentations, and educational programming to increase the public’s knowledge and appreciation of design and its role in creating a sustainable, just, and joyful world.

Top image in the article: 2024 DesignTO look & feel. Photo © Amir Khoshnevis and Aaryan Pashine with aftermodern.lab.

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