Taking place at the Angell Gallery at Queen and Ossington in Toronto, the awards reception will be a celebration of the 2012 Sustainable Design Awards participants and winners. Registration is required and available here.

“The Sustainable Design Awards is an initiative conceived and led by students. Its mission is to inspire young designers to approach their projects through the lens of ecological sustainability and social consciousness. Students are invited to develop ideas that will create meaningful change through their designs. We will hear from our expert jurors regarding their judging process, the submissions, and the state of sustainable design. Please join us to cap off the 2012 Sustainable Design Awards.”

The opening reception is Thursday April 19, 5-7pm and the shows runs until May 20. The Guild Shop is located at 118 Cumberland Street in Toronto’s Yorkville.

The Opening Reception is this Sunday March 11th 3-5pm at 173 MacDonell Ave, Garden Garage.

The theme of the opening is “Occupy your Kitchen”, based on the idea that everyone should occupy their kitchens, creating space for dialogue.

We’re joining Kasia Czanota, Department of Unusual Certainties, Hugo Didier, Hey Day Design, Taliaferro Jones, Amanda McCavour, Sally McCubbin, Public Display of Affection (PDA), Liz Pead and Ruth Scheuing in exhibiting work exploring the act of making objects and issues of expression, communication, employment, community and production.

Exhibit hours: Weekends noon-6pm | Weekdays by appointment

info@preoccupied.ca or call 416.688.8681

Photo: Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail

Thanks to Monika Warzecha from The Globe and Mail for taking the time to talk to us for her article “West-end woodworkers find it hard to carve out studio space”. It’s an ongoing struggle for many local woodworkers to find space for their business near the downtown core, we’re lucky to have our shop in the Junction Triangle and hopefully that doesn’t change any time soon.

Check out the show Losing Parkdale, running until Feb. 26 at the Ontario Crafts Council on Queen; it’s curated by our friend Joel Robson as a celebration of the talent of the many woodworkers who have worked in the area and recently been squeezed out.

Of course this is a shift that affects creative workers of many types who need large, reasonably priced work spaces and it would be a positive sign in our city’s development if we could work to foster and retain that talent.

Thanks to Ellen Moorhouse at the Toronto Star for her appreciation of Studio North as a whole and for including us in her review of artisans focusing on using salvaged materials.

And we’re flattered that the good people at The Grid count our work among “The 5 Most Amazing Things” they found at the Interior Design Show – check out the video clip.

Another January, another Toronto Design Week survived and enjoyed. We spent most of it at the IDS/Studio North and had the pleasure of meeting many people who came through to see our display as well as our contemporaries in Studio North where fresh and intelligent Canadian design was so well represented, as always.

On the southeast corner of Toronto’s Dufferin Grove there stood an elm tree which had succumbed to Dutch elm disease in 2010. This tree was destined to be firewood, or worse tossed in the city dump. We salvaged the tree and have thoughtfully repurposed some of the lumber into this collection to exhibit our take on a contemporary dining/socializing nook.

Thanks to DesignLines for the two love tags, have a look at the rest of their objects of affection here.

Thonet’s tangle chandelier with anatomies for extinct anomalies V arc base: Elements reclaimed from five of Michael Thonet’s No. 14 chair, ubiquitous in bistros the world over and found on the side of the road in Toronto, surround a single simple bulb to create this chandelier. The refined elm arc is anchored in the raw root of a fallen elm tree salvaged from the tree dump with repurposed sash weights as counter-balance.

branches sconce: A natural extension of our branches line, the sconce bears a subtle yet striking resemblance to its great uncle the branches chandelier. Affixed directly to the wall and made of elm, this piece can be custom-made from this standard small rendition to an entire wall crawling with branches.

cross III table: Playing with perception and balance six legs are crossed in a splay of angles. This tangle of straight raw steel and wood deceives the eye and can support a glass or wood top. Shown here with a reversible elm top accentuating the natural curves on the inside of the table, or it can be rotated for a raw and natural outside edge. The legs are blackened steel tube commingling with straight sections of elm.

orphanage – re-imagined Stam/Breuer chairs: We respect the aesthetic economy of these classic chairs we found discarded at the University of Toronto so our update has been done with a light touch; we simply reused the original leather seating as strapping to harness new elm slats. We’ve re-imagined seven of these chairs, originally made in Italy, and like most orphans they are looking for a home. Tubular chrome-plate steel form (original), reused leather (original), rivets and elm.

peg (the drama twins): These two pieces of black locust found in an abandoned lot a few streets from our shop surprised us with the personality they had hidden beneath their rings. When exhibited in Studio North at IDS12 people saw all sorts of faces in them; the drama twins, a seal, an otter, beaver, cat, mouse… Supported on one side by a peg leg, these stools or side tables stretch the potential of fallen stumps. Peg has a different view from every side and a mirror image top that accentuates the growth rings. Made with black locust and supported by a repurposed oak stool leg.

heart felt cage: Originally produced in 2004 with repurposed conveyor apron this bench is being rebuilt with salvaged wood and straps. Simple removable skeletal ribs support the belted wood. Shown in original beech conveyor apron with birch ribs.

cross II coffee table: Typically the outer edges of trees are discarded when producing lumber, we are using this lost slice facing up to show off the bark under a glass top. The joinery is also exposed and this custom table can also be built with smooth wood.

be steel your hearth: Thonet chairs sitting in a found steel fireplace surround and below an elm mantel.

Opening reception for Public Displays of Affection for 40 Oaks is happening Friday from 6-10pm at the 40 Oaks Community Centre (40 Oak Street). Regular exhibition hours continue through the weekend 1-6pm daily.

This is your first opportunity to catch a glimpse of the 100+ pieces of sustainable, one-of-a-kind furniture, lighting and installations donated to this community in need. Ours is the burst light, an all new design extrapolated from our hoop light design.

40 Oaks is part of the Regent Park revitalization, North America’s largest inner city redevelopment project.

Watch the segment here (the focus on Studio North and investing in one-of-a-kind locally crafted work starts about 30 min in, in case you’re pressed for time). Big thanks to Cityline and Julia Black from Chatelaine for including us.

Get your tickets for the biggest design party of the year. Hear opening remarks from International Guest of Honour Piero Lissoni, and bid on the 20 Julian chairs by Magis, each re-imagined by a different designer, with auction proceeds benefiting the ONEXONE foundation. Plus sample food and drinks from some of the city’s best, all scored by designer/DJ Karim Rashid.

We join a robust list of designers showing new, unseen or iconic work. So pop by Domison at 35 Jarvis and have a look. Get more details.