DESIGNLINES

Emily Smibert Smibert is a magazine editor and freelance writer with experience across numerous consumer and trade industry brands. Her byline has appeared in This Magazine, Elevate and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She resides in Toronto with her sheepadoodle named Waffles. When she’s not coveting renter-friendly wallpaper and luxe tablescapes online, you’ll find her hosting dinner parties and doing Pilates. In this issue Smibert curates a collection of striking paint and wallcoverings for your home. Find it on page 27. Iris Benaroia A design-crazed journalist with a knack for warm and cozy interiors, Benaroia covers a range of topics for publications such as House & Home and the National Post. She resides with her family in a “very messy” house in Toronto with plenty of books and toys. This year, her hope is…

There is always chatter about people getting squeezed out of the city – economically, mentally or physically. There just isn’t enough room, it seems. And the price tags are jaw-droppers. And, even if you live in a larger home, there are compact corners to address and storage issues to tackle. But as more of us live in tight quarters, maybe we’ll all be getting out and enjoying the city more, adding to its vibrancy, and being a bit more European in our approach to life. In this issue, we’ve met homeowners and designers who know how to craft small spaces that don’t skimp on anything. We showcase three projects by Creative Union, a husband-wife duo adept at cajoling tons of living space from less square footage: a condo in the Distillery,…

From fields of fauna to the depths of the ocean, Tel Aviv lighting design studio Aqua Creations gathers inspiration from organic forms found in nature. A central piece of the studio’s growing portfolio, the Morning Glory floor lamp is reminiscent of bioluminescence – casting a dreamy glow through its sculptural, fungi-like body. Despite standing more than two metres tall, the lamp maintains a gentle and unobtrusive presence with a light-softening outfit of delicate raw silk. Designed by Albi Serfaty, founder and artistic director of Aqua Creations, the lamp has been the studio’s best-selling design since its inception in 1992. Over the years, its collection has added a number of pendants and wall lights with similar silk dressings as the floor lamp — folded to convey the appearance of coral, starfish and…

Brutalist accents are seamlessly woven into the muddy earth-tone palette of Evangeline, the stylish bar and lounge atop Toronto’s Ace Hotel. Up on the 14th floor, exposed concrete and cozy vintage furniture harmonize in a scheme of dreamy interiors by the hotel group’s in-house design team Atelier Ace. Evangeline’s design is an ode to Toronto’s history of industry and innovation. Rows of red brick above the fireplaces nod to the city’s history of brickwork, while the bar itself is named after the first feature-length film to be made in Canada – inspiring an atmosphere driven by the romance of the silver screen. Floor-to-ceiling windows expose the sprawling outdoor patio overlooking the city’s fashion district and let light in from the east. Come sunset, warm woods and caramel accents are brought to…

The work of artist-designer-educator JP King sits at the intersection of numerous design approaches. From installation art to experimental videos, each of his pieces are born out of a passion for storytelling. In conversation with Designlines, King spills on his conceptual influences, the truth about waste and his presentation at the Design TO Festival ‘Trash Talk’ Symposium. What does it mean to be an artist-designer-educator? I view learning experiences in the same creative and experimental way I make my art. While a lot of my work has an informative orientation, I choose to approach my teaching like performance art: the class is a stage, presentation tools are my props and my suit is a costume. How do you choose your art medium? I turn to video and animation when I want to visually guide…

A common way to discover the spirit of a city is by exploring its streetscapes. So, what happens to that spirit when the city’s visual markers begin to change? In Spacing’s eleventh book, the magazine’s publisher, creative director and co-founder Matthew Blackett teams up with local architects Kurt Kraler and Philip Evans to document the history, culture, and development of Toronto through its saga of unique signage. The Signs That Define Toronto explores how emblems adorning our city contribute to its visual identity and, subsequently, that of its residents. Over 150 years of signage are documented in pages of archival photographs, colourful illustrations and text that spark a delightful sense of nostalgia. Commercial designs like Eaton’s and the Mr. Christie water tower tell a story of Toronto’s industrialization, whereas the loss…