Innehållsförteckning för Issue 1, 2020: Designer of the Year från DESIGNLINES

February marks my 11th year at Azure Publishing, and my 10th year as the editor of Designlines. It’s been quite a tenure, but there are still days when I feel like a newbie, time speeds up and I’m super excited to get in the door to tackle the job at hand. And when I get to do everything from score a studio visit to take a feature story from first draft to final layout – well, to a design junkie like me, 11 years is really nothing at all. Plus, there’s the perk of the all-star issue. Every year, this unicorn edition is packed, from page one, with designers operating at full tilt; 2020’s Designer of the Year issue is just the latest one. First, there’s the overall winner, Superkül,…

Before we get to the rainbow-bright, perfectly proportioned and cushy Felt chair, let’s first address the name of the experimental design studio that made it: Stacklab. The moniker is a riff on “tech stack,” a term borrowed from the technology industry to describe the applications required to complete a task. If you are an editor, you plan in Excel, write with Word and tweak layouts through InDesign; the stack is pretty clear-cut. But if you’re a Stacklab designer, you piggyback off existing technologies, infrastructures and human resources to invent, not reinvent. “The last thing the world needs is another chair,” says Stacklab founder Jeffrey Forrest, “but it does need innovation. And sometimes a chair is a good conduit for a more important conversation.” The piece of furniture we’re talking about…

Closet Systems California Closets CC’s customized organization and storage solutions maximize the potential of your home’s rooms and closets. Think: Murphy beds, garage workbenches, tailored wardrobes with adjustable shelving, baskets and pullout hampers. For touches of colour, try doors with back-painted glass inserts, and pulls in graphite or gold. Media centres featuring cubbies, integrated lighting and concealed wiring keep lived-in spaces tidy. 1400 CASTLEFIELD AVE 416 342 1717 (ALSO: 158 DAVENPORT RD 416 342 1717) CALIFORNIACLOSETS.COM Komandor Organization and style are at the root of Komandor’s offerings: custom closets and doors, aluminum partitions, interior millwork and accessories. This Mississauga-based manufacturer uses European panels from brands Krono and Egger in an array of colours, finishes and even 3D textures to create efficient spaces for any room. Get arty with Decorativo’s custom…

Caesarstone Explore Caesarstone’s proprietary quartz slabs and consult a pro about their many applications. Sixty-two varieties are showcased with helpful graphics explaining how edges may be trimmed for desired effects. Caesarstone furnishings by top designers, including quartz-topped wire stools by Snarkitecture, dot the minimalist space. New in countertops: 2019’s Empira White and industrial manufacturing textures recalling oxidized steel, poured plaster and raw concrete. 350 CALDARI RD, CONCORD 416 479 8400 CAESARSTONE.CA Cambria Gallery Cambria’s Corktown gallery showcases natural stone surfaces in over 160 designs spanning from pale neutrals to rich jewel tones. See the brand’s synthetic lines on display in kitchen and bath vignettes. The quartz collections feature luxurious new showstoppers with bold charcoal veins zebra-ing across white backgrounds, or wood-like striations of resplendent tan and walnut-brown veining. 91 PARLIAMENT…

Amati Canada AC’s focus is squarely on kitchen and bathroom fixtures. 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 soaker tubs by Porcher and therapeutic bath systems by BainUltra. Also here: minimalist fixtures from Riobel, Philippe Starck’s wall-mounted toilets for Duravit and extraordinary faucets from Graff. 105 DONCASTER AVE 905 709 0881 AMATICANADA.COM Appliance Canada Find the latest innovations in ultra-premium appliances here, like Thermador ovens that have a seven-minute preheat (the fastest in the luxury oven segment) and integrated fridges with advanced features like eco-mode and automatic door close. Consider flush-faced fridges by Monogram and flush-mounted cooktops by Bosch for the ultimate seamless look; Fisher & Paykel dishwashers offer the convenience of…

Allan Rug Company ARC’s newly renovated 1,300-square-metre showroom boasts a staggering selection of versatile contemporary flooring solutions, from carpet and area rugs to hardwood, cork, laminate and luxury vinyl. Here you’ll find contemporary solutions perfectly suited to home and office environments – such as extra-wide hardwood planks – as well as custom and handmade rugs in modern and traditional designs (by Missoni, Stanton and Nourison) that can be installed right away. 103 MIRANDA AVE 416 787 1707 ALLANRUG.COM Amala Carpets Amala’s house-designed artisanal rugs made with vegetable-based dyes in Nepalese wool and Thai silk pop against this whitewashed industrial showroom. The six-generation family business works directly with the crafts people who harvest and weave its creations using sustainable methods. Zee Silk makes for an environmentally friendly carpet with shimmering hand-reeled…

Century Architexture Loft living without the cost and hassle of bricklaying: CA’s seven-millimetre-thick pre-engineered brick veneer wall panels affix to a mesh backing, making them a cinch to install. Locally hand-cast from gypsum to replicate the look and feel of century-old reclaimed brick, they’re incredibly convincing. The showroom’s own backsplashes, bathroom walls and a media room exemplify the variety of uses for the manufactured-on-site panels. 34 JUTLAND RD, ETOBICOKE 416 503 3889 CENTURYARCHITEXTURE.COM Farrow & Ball Britain’s F&B offers a medley of handcrafted wallpapers showcasing the rich pigments it is best known for, as well as an expansive selection of paints ranging from contemporary neutrals to heritage tones. Chromologists will relish the latest hues from F&B’s collaboration with London’s Natural History Museum. Covetable metallic print wallpapers with shimmering gold, silver…

Vicky Lee What have you done for us lately? I designed this issue from cover to cover. How does being on set inspire your layouts? Everything comes to life when you see houses in person. You get a sense of scale, light and space – how rooms come together and how people (and dogs) inhabit them. The challenge is to translate those emotions into print. Alexandra Caufin What have you done for us lately? I interviewed Meg Graham and Andre D’Elia of Superkül, DL’s Designer of the Year competition winner (p. 70). Which Superkül-designed home would you most like to live in? As an urbanite, I often imagine a version of my life set in the countryside. For me, the studio’s Grey Highlands cabin is where their labyrinthine aesthetic comes…

Eataly Toronto, the 40th location for the luxury grocer and the latest addition to the remodelled Bay-Bloor intersection, is a sprawling 4,645-square-metre, three-storey complex devoted to the best of Italian cuisine. And as with the country, there’s far more here than just good food – there’s equally great design, too. That’s thanks, in part, to local architecture powerhouse Giannone Petricone. On the ground floor, Il Gran Caffè Illy offers high-quality coffee, snacks and aperitivo, while below, the concourse level’s 36-seat Birroteca – anchored by a substantial wood bar clad in untreated copper panels – sees the retailer pair up with world-class Junction-based brewery Indie Alehouse to serve exclusive craft beers made using ingredients inspired by the market above. Linking the floors is a mural celebrating Toronto’s multiculturalism by photographer Oliviero…

Studio Junction This charming second-storey living space by Studio Junction was inspired by the quiet act of reading on a winter day. The architects balance unfussy, practical detailing with white walls, using wood as their muse. A rose window high in the room guides the eye toward a softly curving four-metre vault of natural cedar planks that alternate from cream to chestnut brown. Natural light enters through skylights framed in cedar and Douglas fir, frosted glass transoms and a single picture window, giving the space its ethereal glow. At night, the vault is illuminated by embedded LED strips. Selected for its ease of installation, a Jøtul gas stove in white sits to one side, adding warmth to the perfectly square room without competing with its delicate wooden accents. A humble…

Why build a passive house? To this question, Meg Graham and Andre D’Elia return a thoughtful gaze. “Because,” Graham says, “it’s the right thing to do.” A succinct answer, but not a simple one. Fitting, too, for the founders of Superkül, who shorthand their aesthetic as “just enough” – a philosophy that proves much more complex than it sounds. As the couple explains, passive homes – which use new building technologies to achieve a highly reduced environmental footprint – offer more than ethics and a pat on the back. They also boast near-zero emissions, improved air quality and radically lower utility bills. So when tasked by R-Hauz with designing a series of prefabricated laneway houses for Toronto – 108-square-metre homes to be developed en masse – Superkül eyed local concerns…

After nearly a decade in Leslieville, Lady Marmalade’s owners commissioned Omar Gandhi Architect (OGA), in collaboration with SvN Architects + Planners, to transform a boarded-up East Chinatown row house into the new home of their popular brunch destination. To say this was a tall order is an understatement. “It was tough to see how this could become a bright, airy brunch spot,” says Omar Gandhi, principal of OGA, about the site. “It was a reductive, or subtractive, method of sculpting, where we really just took things away.” And so out went large sections of floor plate. In went rear windows and skylights, then every wall, beam and ceiling was clad in blond-hued Baltic birch, pushing the aesthetic limits of what’s possible within Toronto’s characteristically narrow architectural footprint. From the street,…

Bang & Olufsen Toronto Private residence or showroom? This immersive outpost for statement-making high-end electronics combines the atmospheres of both. Within its luxurious living-room setting, you’ll discover TVs and speakers more akin to sculpture than technology, while the kitchen island doubles as a wireless headphone display. Art lovers will be drawn to the BeoVision Eclipse televi-sion with its customizable soundbar, as well as the hexagonal modules of BeoSound Shape’s wall-mounted speakers. 100 DAVENPORT RD 416 935 1919 BEOTORONTO.COM Bay Bloor Radio This long-standing Toronto institution is a mecca for audio- and videophiles. BBR’s custom design department advises on residential, corporate and professional installations. The Sonos One smart speaker provides voice-controlled music, available in five limited-edition colours drawn from the palette of Danish furnishings brand HAY. Panasonic OLED TVs are tuned…

AM Studio AM’s versatile custom lighting studio is home to intricate and imaginative fixtures handmade in Toronto. The gallery is aglow with Swarovski crystal, metal and glass fused, blown and drawn into dramatic sculptural forms. Find shapely porcelain pendants, linear sconces or staggering plate and orb chandeliers designed in collaboration with glass artist Karli Sears. The showroom also showcases ready-made beauties from Bomma, Lasvit and Siemon & Salazar. 1270 CASTLEFIELD AVE 416 783 4100 AMSTUDIO.CA Artemide Artemide’s Distillery shop is dedicated to the Italian lighting brand recognized for its iconic collaborations with renowned designers. Its sleekly futuristic lineup includes founder Ernesto Gismondi’s Discovery pendant, a vertical ring whose transparent interior fills with soft light. Also on hand: Bjarke Ingels Group’s wall-mounted Alphabet of Light illuminated letters and numbers in graphic…

JF & Co. This trade-only showroom specializes in fabric and drapery from such high-end brands as MissoniHome, Scalamandré, Ashley Wilde, Pindler and Maxwell. JF&C’s equally impressive wallcovering collection features sumptuous silks, grasscloth, paper weaves, cork, screen-printed novelties and digital prints that are sure to enliven any room. A sweeping drapery hardware line and decorative tapes, tassels and trims for those finishing touches are also available here. 326 DAVENPORT RD 416 238 5254 JFANDCO.CA Kate Thornley-Hall This local designer’s trademark style combines contemporary graphics and colour with antique furnishings. KTH collaborates with artists, transforming their work into home furnishings, wallpapers, decorative flat-weaves and custom handwoven wool and silk rugs: “art you can walk on.” Patterns include butterflies and bees, decorative florals and traditional kilim designs with a twist. A new toile…

1925Workbench This charming maker-studio builds custom handcrafted wooden doors and furniture in white oak, walnut, poplar, fir and pine, all finished with brass, stainless steel or heavy metal hardware. Highlights include patented single-track bypass barn-door hardware, walnut slab doors with transom-like cut-outs and nearly five-metre-tall rolling or hook ladders. Here it’s a true love of craft: solid wood and traditional techniques. 198 THIRTIETH ST, ETOBICOKE 416 878 1869 BY APPT ONLY 1925WORKBENCH.COM ADH Fine Hardware ADH offers tried-and-true solutions – in traditional and contemporary styles – from Baldwin, Emtek and Rocky Mountain. Unlock your creative side with stylish jewelled knobs by Matthew Studios, leather loop straps by Scrim or custom forged bronze handles by Hamilton Sinkler. Or go the minimalist route: tiny knurled pulls by Vesta or barely there designs…

In his Toronto studio, Brian Rideout is busy painting history. His American Collection series of oil paintings depicts the residences of the highly privileged – and the famous artworks sequestered within. “I was interested in documenting art collections through paint as a way of giving those works context outside the museum or textbook,” the 34-year-old artist says. Rich with stories, his compositions reflect their source material. The artist relies on vintage magazines and interior design books, and his settings, as a result, have a distinctly retro feel. One canvas reproduces the leafy vignette that is Henri Matisse’s 1953 large-scale ceramic La Gerbe (The Sheaf) as it hangs in its original environment, a sun-dappled Los Angeles courtyard designed by architect Archibald Quincy Jones. Of recreating these images of artworks in their…

Unsatisfied by his nascent career in aircraft maintenance, recent Sheridan College graduate Wang took up design instead. The result: a series of brushstrokes rendered in blackened white ash that envelopes the sitter, a wholly modern look that blurs the line between calligraphy and woodwork. See Wang’s work at the Studio North & Prototype exhibit Jan 16-19 at the Interior Design Show, 222 Bremner Boulevard. Hand-tufted in New Zealand wool, Mior’s rugs recall Matisse’s cut-outs, where primal forms were reduced to expressive outlines. They are both art and design objects, and are characteristic of Mior’s creative home – Address, a Vancouver-based pop-up design show that spotlights women, people of colour and queer designers. Visit the Address show Jan 15-19 at LightForm, 267 Niagara Street. This table by Odami (made by Patrick…

One way to gauge the success of a client–architect relationship is to ask either party if they remain friends post-project. As testament to a job impeccably done, partners Shaun Moore and Todd Caldwell speak almost daily with Tamira Sawatzky, the architect of their 185-square-metre loft on Geary Avenue, and frequently have dinner with her and her wife, filmmaker Elle Flanders. Their proximity helps: the four not only live across a red-carpeted hall from one another, each in similar industrial conversions, but they also work out of the building (the former warehouse of a bomboniere importer), which they co-own. Moore and Caldwell run side-by-side retail shops below their place – Made Design, which specializes in custom-designed furniture, and Emblem, a floral design studio – whereas Sawatzky and Flanders are partners in…

While great for solo relaxing, Paolo Ferrari’s Extra Rolled Back Lounge reveals its true potential come cocktail hour. “It’s really a social animal,” Ferrari says. Thanks to the oversized perch-like proportions of its backrest and its “mega-arms,” the pseudo-armchair can comfortably seat a party of five. By sitting so low to the ground (its square seat is propped up by only the rolled cushions on either side of it) the design effectively condenses the atmosphere of a sunken living room into a 160-by-110-centimetre footprint. Adding to its ’70s vibes is the studio’s preferred fabric for the lounge: a rich mohair straight out of Studio 54. “There’s a purity to its geometry, so we wanted something with a tactility that still invites people to engage,” Ferrari explains. Hence the sculptural design’s…

Advice from a Caterpillar Refined and cozy, this Rosedale boutique caters to the design-loving parent. Personalize your nursery with bed cushions and printed linens from artist-turned-designer Caroline Z Hurley, poufs and woven baskets from D.A.R Projects, and the Eza collection of porcelain mugs capped with zoo animals. The adjacent home-concept shop boasts rattan stools and bamboo loungers from Indaba, mirrors and micro-shelves from Ferm Living and linens from France’s Autumn. 8 PRICE ST 416 960 2223 ADVICEFROMACATERPILLAR.CA BB Buggy Find everything that stylish soon-to-be parents want and little ones need at BBB, including cribs, rockers and bassinets, beds, bookshelves and changing tables. With its slim side rails, slender spindles and elegant turned legs, Oeuf’s Sparrow crib will add Scandinavian warmth to any nursery, while the family of cotton elephants that…

ARD Outdoor ARD Outdoor has all the upscale patio furnishings and accessories you’ll need to transform your backyard or balcony into a resort-inspired retreat, including newly added European line Vondom. Seating abounds – sectionals, loveseats, accent chairs and canopied daybeds – in colourful Sunbrella fabrics. Cantilevered umbrellas and Tucci parasols pair with dining tables in teak or powder-coated aluminum. Brighten your nights with a Dekko concrete firepit and ambiance lighting. 3019 DUFFERIN ST 416 551 6055 ARDOUTDOOR.COM Casualife Seeking furniture for outdoor entertainment spaces, exterior family rooms and private oases? Casualife’s on-staff designers excel in space planning and will navigate you through wares made from teak, aluminum and woven resin. Look for luxe daybeds, woven loungers with sunshades, and poufs with weather-resistant resin weave on aluminum frames that perform triple…

Anazao Inc. Anazao designs, builds and installs fine custom wood furniture and decor, as well as architectural millwork and handcrafted steel. Homeowners and designers will find contemporary bespoke beds, dining tables, vanities and dressers made from single slabs of walnut alongside barn doors with forged steel handles and brackets. Enviable projects include a sleek sit–stand hydraulic desk, sliding doors in oak herringbone pattern and benches of grouped hexagonal storage modules. 10 JUTLAND RD, ETOBICOKE 647 792 7855 BY APPT ONLY ANAZAOINC.CA Atomic Design Lawrence Blairs’s compact boutique presents a tightly curated, high-end collection of authentic vintage art and design restored to glory. Current exceptional offerings include Hans Wegner’s iconic black leather Wing Chair, Tobia Scarpa’s architectural coffee table and a pair of Victor Vasarely black and white Cinetique serigraphs. AD’s…

Haworth The dashing task chairs, desk sets and storage options found in this showroom channel the verve of Suits, courtesy of such design stars as Marcel Wanders, Jasper Morrison and Patricia Urquiola. The Italian-designed, U.S.-produced Lotus chair, available in vibrant turquoise, and the Poppy dowel chair will certainly liven up any boardroom, while Cappellini’s commercial–home hybrid furniture makes being at the office a much more inviting prospect. 55 UNIVERSITY AVE 416 363 3486 HAWORTH.COM Humanscale This LEED Gold–winning HQ houses a wealth of ergonomic and responsibly made desk chairs and LED task lamps. QuickStand Eco is an easy-to-use accessory that creates an adjustable sit–stand workspace out of any surface, including at home, while OfficeIQ, an activity tracker integrated into chairs and desks, reminds users when it’s time to move. Another…