January may be a month of hibernation in most cities, but for the Toronto design industry, it’s the busiest time of the year. Hot on the heels of IDS Toronto, the annual DesignTO festival encourages people to layer up and embark on a 10-day winter expedition. The mission: Engage with all manner of creative exploits — from experimental group exhibitions to insightful panel discussions, with a few parties along the way. (If you were lucky enough to score a ticket before they sold out, you may even be booked for a dinner at Mason Studio’s two-night-only restaurant pop-up, shown above.) Running from January 23 to February 1, this year’s edition is as wide-ranging as ever, going deep on topics from migration to adhesive tape. Here are five intriguing group shows and six standout events that we’ve RSVP-ed to so far — but there are many other exciting happenings to discover in the full festival schedule. See you next week!

EXHIBITIONS

1

Ensemble presents Pot-au-Feu at The Plumb

After winning Best Exhibition during the 2025 edition of DesignTO, Quebec design collective Ensemble is back for an encore. Last year, they showcased furniture and lighting by a star lineup of French Canadians inside of artfully staged environments that would have made Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch proud. (Think a room lit by a glowing white wall, plus another draped in red velvet curtains.) This year’s showcase — named after a traditional French stew, and again being held in subterranean gallery The Plumb — promises more where that came from, with visiting exhibitors including Will Choui, Studio D’armes and more.

_{Jan 23 – Jan 28, with an opening reception Jan 24. More info here.}

2

To Be Longing, Portraits of Queer Living at Ace Hotel Toronto

Some especially exciting guests are checking into the Ace Hotel Toronto for this year’s festival. First up is architect Quan Thai, who is staging a second edition of his exhibition unpacking queer domesticity. Originally presented at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture’s Design at Riverside gallery, the show displays a wide range of everyday objects sourced from members of the queer community. On Monday, January 25, a panel featuring Thai in conversation with Yabu Pushelberg’s Bahar Ghaemi (a 2025 AZ Awards juror!), fashion editor and stylist Chad Burton (who also helped curate the show) and design editor Sean Santiago will build on the exhibition’s themes by discussing the relationship between “the body, the object, and the space.” 

Speaking of the body, Los Angeles-based decor substack FOR SCALE is also checking into the Ace this month to host a pair of (already sold-out) life drawing sessions that will feature model William Miguel posing nude amidst a collection of furniture sourced by Toronto vintage dealer In Corso. 

_{Jan 23 – Feb 1, with an opening reception Jan 23 and a talk on Jan 26. More info here.}

3

Tape at 8×7

Fresh from playing a critical role during holiday gift wrapping season, adhesive tape makes its design gallery debut. Industrial designer Jamie Wolfond has invited nine design studios — including both local collaborators like Rebecca Sun Collins and international creatives like Bertjan Pot — to each deliver an object that engages with adhesive tape. All nine will be displayed in his Junction gallery, 8×7. As Wolfond notes, tape is often something that designers turn to for a quick, temporary way to hold together a work-in-progress. Here, finally, it gets a chance to be part of an end result.

_{Jan 23 – Feb 21, with an opening reception on Jan 22. More info here.}

4

All Light at Gallery 1065

Product designer “Kilowatt” Kate Tessier and interior design firm Common Good Studio teamed up to curate this exploration of the many different forms that lighting can take. In the process, they cast a spotlight on the province’s strong community of creative luminaries. In total, fifteen Ontario-based designers contribute their distinct takes on illumination, realized in a full range of materials including ceramics, glass, wood and metal.

_{Jan 23 – Feb 1, with an opening reception on Jan 24, a tour on Jan 25 and a talk on Jan 29. More info here.}

5

Traces at Harbourfront Centre

As geopolitical conflicts and the climate crisis force the ongoing migration of entire populations, this DesignTO-curated exhibition examines the markers of culture and identity that people take with them — as well as the ones that they must leave behind — when they move. Ten local and international artists, designers and collectives weigh in on how creative expression helps to re-establish someone’s sense of place in a new setting. For instance, Montreal-based artist Anahita Norouzi created her “Displaced Garden” series of cyanotype prints (shown above) by asking refugees from Southwest Asia and North Africa to have their families mail dried plants native to their home countries, but classified as invasive in North America.

_{Jan 23 – Mar 29, with an opening reception on Jan 30. More info here.}

EVENTS

1

DesignTO Launch Party at Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto

DesignTO knows how to kick things off with a bang, and its 16th edition will be no exception. On January 23, the festival’s launch party moves to the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, pairing after-hours access with a soundtrack curated by local·global and DJs Isabel Okoro and Adeola Abegunde. Guests can move between the dance floor and the galleries, including a major exhibition by Jeff Wall that charts four decades of image-making. As always, it’s sure to be a night of connection, inspiration, and most of all, fun, setting the tone for a jam-packed week of programming.

_{Jan 23. More info and tickets here.}

2

Light Gathering in the Yuàn 光聚院心 at Mason Studio

Part of a growing wave of pop-ups that blur the line between installation and dining, Light Gathering in the Yuàn transforms Mason Studio’s Cultural Hub into an intimate site of encounter during DesignTO, using light, food and spatial choreography to explore ideas of ritual and hospitality. Referencing the yuàn — the traditional Chinese courtyard, and social and emotional centre of the home — the installation unfolds within The Light Room through a calibrated interplay of illumination by VYVYD Lighting, with shifting light conditions that shape perception and atmosphere. For two nights only, the space will serve a contemporary seafood menu courtesy of Chef Eva Chin, the mastermind behind Yan Dining Room — making each meal a feast for the senses in more ways than one. Outside of dinner service, the installation remains open to the public, inviting visitors to experience the space as a contemplative environment. Supported by DBD CoLab, the project reflects a broader shift toward experiential dining as a site for architectural and cultural experimentation.

While tickets to the two-night-only affair sold out faster than most concerts, the good news is that a second set of dinners will be held during the Lunar New Year. Stay tuned to Mason Studio’s Instagram for announcements.

_{Ticketed dinners Jan 26–27 (sold out), with installation on view to the public Jan 29–31. More info here.}

3

Ideas Forum: Advocating for a Better City, Virtual

What might a better future for Toronto look like? The speakers at this year’s Ideas Forum, organized in partnership with the Toronto Society of Architects, have a few compelling answers. From the practical to the political, Advocating for a Better City zeroes in on those pushing the city’s built environment toward a more equitable, resilient future: artists, planners, writers and activists, including professor Nina-Marie Lister and Moriyama Teshima’s Brian Rudy. Taking place online, the symposium unfolds through five rapid-fire Pecha Kucha presentations — each just 20 slides in 20 seconds — that illuminate diverse strategies for civic change, spanning community-led research and policy to non-profit engagement and design-driven stewardship of public space. A moderated Q&A invites dialogue about what it really takes to influence infrastructure, policy and public imagination, demonstrating how tenacity and collaboration can translate local efforts into broader impact.

_{Jan 28. More info here.}

4

Design in Canada Now at Hollis + Morris

The “Buy Canadian” movement is going strong as ever, and this talk at hollis+morris on January 28 is set to address what this shift means for the local design industry. Moderated by The Globe and Mail Style Magazine’s Editorial Director, Andrew Sardone, the panel will bring together leaders across architecture, interiors and product design, from SOCA Architecture’s Tura Cousins Wilson to Mason Studio’s Stanley Sun and DesignTO’s very own Deborah Wang, as well as furniture designers Heidi Earnshaw and Mischa Couvrette and Casson Hardware co-founder Jane Son. Moving beyond patriotic purchasing, the discussion considers how local production is reshaping creative practice, business models and collaboration — offering a grounded look at what it takes to build resilient, design-driven ecosystems at home.

_{Jan 28. More info here.}

5

Design Hustle at Cosentino City Toronto

From the academic design studio to the atelier, the importance of mentorship is deeply ingrained in the history of design practice and remains just as vital in today’s landscape. Hosted at the Cosentino City Toronto showroom, this candid, multi-generational conversation with design leaders Arancha González Bernardo, Pat Hanson and Mason Studio’s Paul Lee (shown above), embodies that very ethos. Drawing on their own professional highs and setbacks, the panel moves beyond individual trajectories to consider how values, modes of practice and definitions of success are evolving, offering a broader view of where the discipline is headed and what emerging designers can carry forward.

_{Jan 27. More info here.}

6

Art and Architecture Trivia Night at the Arts & Letters Club

Calling all architecture and art buffs: On January 28, the Toronto Society of Architects (TSA) trivia night offers a welcome pause in a packed design calendar. Unwind over drinks and a light bite after a busy week of events, while flexing your expert knowledge of the city’s design scene. Of course, there’s always more to learn, which is why the TSA is kicking the evening off with tours of the historic Arts & Letters building — “a vibrant social hub dedicated to the appreciation and celebration of the arts,” including its permanent collection of Canadian art — before the questions begin at 8 pm. Come solo (individuals will be grouped into teams of 4) or bring your friends and compete for a chance to win a special prize.

_{Jan 28. More info here.}