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5 of Our Editors’ Latest Obsessions: Week of Apr 19

Li-Da circular table and column from Roche Bobois

Our intrepid editors open up their notebooks to share recent design discoveries from across the city and around the web

By Eric Mutrie

— FAB FURNITURE —

Audax Debuts Swish Statement Pieces

The local design studio eyes a place in your parlour

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Stately contemporary furnishings are a specialty of architecture and interior design firm Audax, known for outfitting Hazelton Hotel’s ONE restaurant with custom velvet swivel chairs and green marble coffee tables. Now, homeowners seeking to introduce the plush style of the studio’s hospitality projects into their own salons can select from 11 designs launched as part of Audax’s first domestic furniture collection. Encompassing credenzas, sofas and side tables, the series finds a middle ground between playful and posh sensibilities. (Appropriately, it launched at a party that included marble-glazed mini-donuts. They. Were. Delicious.)

We’re especially smitten with the pretty Evelyn armchair. Cotton upholstery in a dusty blush hue that the cool kids are calling “millennial pink” is pleated to create a tulip-like seat, set on satin brass metal legs. See it in person in the lobby of the studio’s Designer’s Walk office. And come with measurements – Audax will custom-tailor anything in its collection to suit the dimensions of your space.

160 Pears Ave, Ste 310  416 862 8403

New Arrivals at Roche Bobois

C’est l’amore with these fresh dining room staples

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There’s nothing like Parisian-chic furnishings in the spring. Last Wednesday, we visited Roche Bobois to tour the French manufacturer’s latest crop of designs. The standouts were two new pieces by Pritzker-winning architect Jean Nouvel. Compared to the designer’s daring schemes for structures like the spiralling aluminum Philharmonie de Paris, the dining table and cabinet he’s created for RB are downright understated. Both feature simple silhouettes that would be a handsome and harmonious addition to any modern space. Yet Nouvel’s genius is evident in each design’s thoughtful details. Li-Da, a circular table available in two sizes, integrates a Lazy Susan-style disc that makes passing the potatoes a thing of the past. A thumbprint indent in the matte disc hints at this functionality with subtle flair.

Meanwhile, the vertical Li-Do column features interior lighting that’s adjustable via a remote control. A revolving door can be left open if you want to show off your fine China collection, or slid shut if the cabinet is stacked with slightly less attractive possessions. Either way, the unit’s small footprint makes it a good storage solution for downtown condos tight on floorspace.

101 Parliament St  416 366 3273  Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5, Sun 11-5


— Q&A —

Toronto Designers Do Milan

MSDS Studio, Uufie and Viso dish on their experience exhibiting in Italy

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Salone del Mobile Milan is the world’s largest design festival, with boutique brands and massive manufacturers filling booths and house-sized pavilions with new product. It’s overwhelming – in a great way – and what a bonus it was to witness familiar faces not only taking part in the extravaganza but killing it. We caught up with three Toronto design firms who exhibited during this year’s Milan Design Week. Read our Q&A with MSDS Studio, Uufie and Viso to find out about their experience.


— READING LIST —

The Legend of a ’50s-era Lounge Chair

Take a seat – Canadian history class is in session

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As part of the Globe and Mail‘s Clearly Canadian series examining classic Canuck designs in the lead up to our country’s 150th birthday, Nathalie Atkinson charts the history of Russell Spanner’s Lounge Chair with Arms. The designer introduced the piece in the 1950s, during a postwar building boom that saw many new Canadian families developing an appetite for clean, modern furnishings. A reissued version of the seat was launched by Gus Modern in 2014.


— POP CULTURE PICK —

A Posh Pop Star Grooves at Integral House

Local songstress Ralph throws a pool party in an architectural gem

Drake isn’t the only Toronto recording artist with an appetite for opulent mansions. Rising talent Ralph, whose EP was released last month, shot her video for “Something More” at the snaking, Shim-Sutcliffe Architects-designed Integral House. Most of the video’s dance party-turned-bocce game-turned-finger food feast takes place around the home’s pool, which faces the Rosedale ravine. See more of the dreamy space’s sweeping curves in Integral Man, Joseph Clement’s documentary about the revered home, premiering at Hot Docs at the end of the month.

Have Toronto design news that should be on our radar? Email [email protected] to be considered for next week’s roundup.


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