Slideshow: Canadian Modern exhibition

Canadian News

Design

By Rich Christianson

February 3, 2023 | 2:57 pm CST

Click on the image to open

Steam-bent maple plywood "Steamer" chair designed by Thomas Lamb, 1978.

Click on the image to open

Hugh Spencer designed this Project G stereo that harbors a Garrard Lab Series turntable in 1963. It features a Brazilian Palisander (rosewood) cabinet with leather side panel inserts, aluminum speakers, brushed aluminum base, and felt-lined interior.

Click on the image to open

Bento Box Escritoire (Desk) and Writer's Seat designed by Douglas Coupland.

Click on the image to open

For his Cord Chair, 1952, designer Jacques Guillon took advantage of advances in WW II manufacturing technology. It combines a seat made of nylon parachute cord with a frame of laminated plywood designed for skis. Though only weighing 3 kilograms it was able to support more than 1,500 kilograms in tests.

Click on the image to open

Alexander Graham Bell phone designed by John Tyson, 1977.

Click on the image to open

BlackBerry Smartphone 7280, designed by Jason Griffn in 2003, combines plastic, metal, and vinyl.

TORONTO -- Furniture is a star attraction of Canadian Modern, a curated exhibition of Canada’s modern design and craft movement, running through July 31 at the Royal Ontario Museum.

According to the ROM’s website, the “exhibition showcases 100 examples of culturally significant, limited-edition and mass-produced objects designed and crafted in Canada, and the stories of insight, experimentation, and innovation behind them.”

In addition to furniture, Canadian Modern features fashion, jewelry, electronics, inlcuding the iconic Blackberry. Alfred Sung, Michael Massie, Hugh Spencer, Jeremy Laing, Jeff Goodman, Karin Jones, Michael Fortune, and Daphne Odjig are among the designers represented.

Have something to say? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

furniture design