Professional Trade Day
IDS Professional Trade Day is reserved to professional members of the design trade. The day is designed to inspire, educate and expose professionals to products, designers, and ideas from both international and national perspectives.
In addition to the floor exhibits and features, programming on this day included the Trade Talks Speakers Series and the IDS Booth Awards.
Registration for Trade Day is now closed. Registration information for IDS14 will be available in the fall of 2013.
Azure Trade Talks
IDS is Canada’s top meeting place and offers an unparalleled ability to connect to ideas, to be inspired by new work, and to plug into current design trends. IDS13 brought you four creatives, including world-renowned designer Oki Sato, multidisciplinary designer Jerszy Seymour, award-winning architect Jürgen Mayer and up-and-coming Canadian designer Philippe Malouin, who all challenged how we think about the world around us.
All talks were CEU-accredited and took place on the KRUPS Stage at the centre of the show.
Oki Sato
Oki Sato is the head designer for Japanese design firm Nendo. Born in Toronto, Oki graduated with a master’s in architecture from Waseda University in Tokyo in 2002. That same year, Oki and some of his classmates formed Nendo and established the company’s Tokyo office. A second office in Milan was established in 2005, and in 2012 a third office opened in Singapore.
The goal of Nendo is to reconstitute the everyday by transforming it into something that is easy to understand. Nendo believes there are many small moments of surprise hidden in everyday life, and they want those who encounter their designs to intuitively feel those moments of surprise. The company has produced designs for projects across Asia, Europe and North America.
In 2006, Oki lectured for Showa Women’s University in Tokyo, in 2009 for Kuwasawa Design School in Tokyo, and in 2012 for Waseda University in Tokyo. He has received numerous awards, including being voted one of “The 100 Most Respected Japanese” by Newsweek magazine in 2006, “Designer of the Year” by Wallpaper magazine in 2012, and Elle Decor International Design Award’s “Designer of the Year” in 2012.
Jerszy Seymour
A designer’s designer, Jerszy Seymour has created an eccentric and edgy body of work. Uninterested in definitions, he crosses boundaries, producing interiors, architecture, fashion, and products with ease and abandon. His work is completely avante garde, continuously challenges the fundamentals, and embraces the places where design is going. Jerszy uses his work to explore materials and forms, and takes us with him on the journey. Unpretentious, his work is open to everyone and pushes the boundaries of authority/anti-authority. Jerszy was born in Berlin and grew up in London, where he studied engineering at South Bank Polytechnic from 1987 to 1990 and industrial design at the Royal College of Art from 1991 to 1993. When he returned to Berlin after completing his studies, he began a series of conceptual projects that sought to revitalize the position of design within society.
In 2000, Jerszy received the prestigious Dedalus Award for European Designer of the Year, and in 2003 he received the Taro Okamoto Memorial Award for Contemporary Art. In 2011, he created “The Dirty Art Department” program, for which he serves as co-director in the new Applied Art and Design Master’s at the Sandberg Institute/Reitveld Academy in Amsterdam.
Philippe Malouin
Philippe Malouin is an up-and-coming Canadian designer based out of London. He uses an experimental approach to design, constantly looking to discover new manufacturing techniques and ways of using materials, while aiming to keep the final product as simple and minimal as possible. Philippe’s diverse portfolio includes rugs, chairs, lighting objects, artwork and installations, which have been featured in exhibits and galleries across Europe.
Born in Montreal, Philippe’s interest in design began while studying design art at Concordia University and industrial design at the University of Montreal. He then travelled to Europe to study at École Nationale de Création Industrielle in Paris for one semester, before attending Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands for two years. After graduating, Philippe worked part-time for Tom Dixon’s studio in London, while also working on his own designs. He then established his own studio, Philippe Malouin Design, where he works with a range of manufacturers, galleries, private clients and art curators. He also serves as director of POST-OFFICE, a London-based architectural and interior design practice. In 2012, Philippe received the W Hotels “Designer of the Future” award, and the Wallpaper Design Awards “Best Use of Material” award.
Jurgen Mayer H.
A German architect and artist, Jürgen Mayer H.’s work is full of ideas made into forms. A product of some of the top schools, including The Cooper Union and Princeton University, he focuses on the intersections of architecture: the grey zones where architecture blurs into art, embraces technology and new materials, and excites visitors to be inspired by the built environment around them. From urban planning schemes and buildings, to installation work and sculpture, Jürgen believes the relationship between the human body, technology and nature form the background for a new production of space. This philosophy gives all his work a human touch; a sensible, approachable and lovely gift back to a neighbourhood and city.
Jürgen’s recent projects include the Dupli.Casa villa near Ludwigsburg, Germany; Metropol Parasol, the redevelopment of the Plaza de la Encarnacion in Seville, Spain; the residential building JOH3 in Berlin, Germany; and public and infrastructural projects in Georgia.
