In January 2018, Toronto Design Offsite Festival (TO DO), Canada's leading design festival will, for the first time, present an International Guest of Honour programme. The festival runs between 15 and 21 January 2018.

In collaboration with the British Council through one of ADF's Biennales and Festivals grants, TO DO have selected Aberrant Architecture as the festival's inaugural Guest of Honour. The programme will include a landmark exhibtion featuring Aberrant's work and a number of Canadian practices, as well as a special talk chaired by Beatrice Galilee, Daniel Brodsky Associate Curator of Architecture and Design at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Aberrant Architecture is an award-winning collaborative studio of designers, makers, and thinkers whose projects introduce new and unexpected ways of experiencing everyday life. Storytelling and research are at the heart of their practice, a practice which includes the first architecture residency at the Victoria and Albert Museum, exhibitions at the Venice Biennale for Architecture and Sao Paulo Biennial, among others.

Exhibition

The exhibition, entitled 'In Place', will feature the work of Aberrant Architecture as the focus for a group showcase that includes four North American practices that share similar interests, processes, and outcomes: projects that have emerged from socially-engaged design practices, using deep research and storytelling as tools to create site-specific installations.

Featured North American projects include “Amateur Intelligence Radio” (Saint Paul, Minnesota) by Daily tous les jours, “Recycling Words” (Winnipeg, Manitoba) by KANVA, “The Fogo Island De-Centralized Academy” (Fogo, Newfoundland) by Nicole Lattuca, and “La table de la Méduse” (Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec) by Dean Baldwin, all requiring interaction to activate the work, and resulting in an experience that connects individuals with a specific place. The exhibition is curated by the Toronto Design Offsite Festival with Nuria Montblanch, and co-presented with Harbourfront Centre. 

13-28 January 2018

Artport Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto

Free admission

Talk

The programme includes a keynote presentation in which Aberrant Architecture's founders, David Chambers and Kevin Haley, will discuss the ideas, experiences, and stories that reside outside the “final” work or architecture – the “outtakes” – with friend and past collaborator Beatrice Galilee, Daniel Brodsky Associate Curator of Architecture and Design at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The talk will take place on Friday 19 January 2018, at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre. 

Friday 19 January 2018, 7:30-9:00pm

Studio Theatre, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto

Visit the TO-DO website for detailed informationa and to book tickets. 

About Toronto Design Offsite

Toronto Design Offsite Festival (TO DO) is Canada’s largest cultural celebration of design with over 100 exhibitions and events forming Toronto’s design week, January 15-21, 2018. Now in its 8th year, TO DO transforms Toronto into a hub for creativity, taking design and art out of the studio and into the urban sphere, bringing people together to celebrate contemporary culture.

TO DO took part in this year's Design Connections. You can find out more about their programme in this Q&A with the festival's Artistic Director, Deborah Wang. 

For further information on TO DO and their International Guest Programme visit the festival website.