There are a lot of design events happening in Canada this Fall that have caught my eye. Here are three conferences/expos that I will be attending. The World Design Summit – to be held October 16-25 at the Palais des Congrès (1001 Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle) in downtown Montréal – is a multi-faceted series of design events … Continue reading The View from Here: Three Canadian Design Events worth Attending This Fall
Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Canadian furniture designer Robin Speke, of Speke|Klein, about the firm’s practice – especially their education at Parnham College in England, the evolution of Speke Klein’s business model, and the links between design, craft and manufacturing. This is an edited version of our conversation. Given that Parnham College’s … Continue reading From Parnham to Durham: Feature Interview with Canadian Furniture-maker Robin Speke of SPEKE|KLEIN
In this series of posts that explore a critical reading of The Drake Commissary interiors, I have enjoyed returning to the site several times. For this final installment, my focus will be the dining area. The main dining area is positioned at the back of the space, at the end of a series of spatial … Continue reading Revisiting a Bountiful Interior
This month Canadian Interiors has published “One Arm Clapping” by Michael Totzke, a short feature about John Tong’s stool design for The Drake Commissary. (See an earlier version published in the Globe & Mail here: “Toronto’s latest Drake enterprise has a familiar theme”) While it is a great article, especially in that it features the … Continue reading Asking More Questions (About the One Arm Stool)
In my last post I introduced the narrative capacity of signature material details we see at The Drake Commissary. Another aspect of narrative potential is the eclectic mix of lounge furniture that invites spatial movement. Recently, I listened again to an old 99 Percent Invisible podcast: Episode #139 entitled “On the Edge of Your Seat”. … Continue reading More Than Placeholders for the Perfect Party
My recent visit to The Drake Commissary has started me thinking about design strategies visible in those interiors that occupy architectural shells already full of material memory. In this case, what comes to mind is the aspect of narrative that these interiors both support and inspire. As Graeme Brooker points out in his recent book … Continue reading A Job Well-Started is a Job Well-Done
The smell of chocolate and the chill of summer storm clouds – these were two familiar sensations that overtook me on Saturday afternoon as I cycled home. I was close to my new favorite neighbourhood culinary hub The Drake Commissary (beside the Nestle chocolate factory on Sterling Road) – so I decided to stop in … Continue reading Engaging Interiors at The Drake Commissary
To wrap up this serialized essay about how furniture functions as a key design element in DesignAgency’s interiors for The Broadveiw Hotel Café, we were able to ask Matt Davis – Founding Partner at DesginAgency – a few questions about the project. Whitestudiolo [Karen White] – I think that the interiors at The Broadview Hotel … Continue reading Feature Interview with DesignAgency
To continue this serialized essay about how furniture functions as a key design element in DesignAgency’s interiors for The Broadveiw Hotel Café, let’s consider the balance of functional and symbolic design objectives that is achieved in the room’s main dining areas: the café chair dining range and the harvest table multi-use space. The dining areas … Continue reading Pull up a Chair and Join us!
In this series about how furniture functions as a key interior design element in the Broadview Hotel Café, I have spent some time discussing the overall architectural context of the room and the Circular Stacked Bar as its central landmark piece. I’m also interested in the two seating areas that occupy the threshold zone between the … Continue reading The Power of Waiting
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