15 Years of DesignTO: Toronto’s Festival of Joy, Justice, and Sustainability

From January 24 to February 2, 2025, Toronto will be reimagined as the DesignTO Festival returns to celebrate its 15th anniversary. With over 100 free events, installations, tours, talks, and exhibitions by more than 300 designers and artists, the festival asks: Are we older and wiser?

"It's incredible to see how much we've grown," says Jeremy Vandermeij, Executive Director and co-founder of DesignTO. "We've welcomed over one million attendees, reached 2.6 billion people through media, supported more than 6,500 artists, and generated $120 million in tourism spending. And there’s more to come!"

From the beginning, DesignTO has supported a vision of design that is more than aesthetics – it’s a tool for problem-solving, solution-building, organized change, experimenting, innovating, and evolving toward a better future. This year’s festival spotlights how design impacts its key pillars: Joy, Justice, and Sustainability.

Featured projects to watch
From immersive experiences that help us slow down and reconnect to artworks addressing endangered creative practices, DesignTO offers many ways to participate in the festival schedule. Here are a few key highlights to begin with:

JOY
DesignTO Launch Party
January 24, 2025 | Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West

Kick off the 15th DesignTO Festival at our official Launch Party! Mix and mingle at the event that brings Toronto’s creative community together. Experience a one-night-only installation by Toronto-based artist Asli Alin, and be among the first to see ‘REVIVE’, a DesignTO-curated group exhibition featuring the work of seven local and international artists and designers. As a fundraiser for the non-profit Festival, all proceeds will go to help achieve our purpose to bring people together to design a better future.

At the conjuring of roots, I wished to meet Me...
January 1-31, 2025 | Sankofa Square (formerly Yonge & Dundas Square), 1 Dundas Street East

‘At the conjuring of roots, I wished to meet Me…’ is an exhibition of photos that explore ideas of the self through costuming by Toronto-based, Ghanaian-Nigerian photographer and visual artist Delali Cofie on five digital screens at Sankofa Square.

Bubble Quilt
January 24-February 2, 2025 | 55 St Clair Avenue West

Studio Rat’s immersive inflatable installation and lighting concept, quilted from reclaimed waste plastics, is sure to make you smile in wonderment. Hand-crafted inflated modules form a soft-glowing grid, illuminating surface patterns inspired by traditional quilt motifs.

The Invisible Tide
January 24, 25, 27, 29, and February 1 | Mason Studio Cultural Hub

Be transported to an unfamiliar place. At the Mason Studio Cultural Hub, a site-specific installation from the Mason Studio team draws you out of the everyday, guiding you on a journey that resonates deeply with both mind and body. Rooted in spatial design and art, this installation emphasizes sensory extremes—light, sound, smell, and touch—creating an experience that feels both vaguely familiar and distinctly foreign.

JUSTICE
Ideas Forum: Labour in Architecture
January 28, 2025 | Virtually

Organized by DesignTO in partnership with the Toronto Society of Architects, ‘Ideas Forum: Labour in Architecture’ features five fast-paced presentations representing diverse organizational structures, including co-operative, union, and employee-owned. This Ideas Forum considers the business of architecture as a project worthy of (re)design.

BIPOC Portfolio Collaboration 2025
January 30-31, 2025 | In-person and online

Hosted by Gensler, this 'Portfolio Collaboration' is an opportunity for BIPOC students to engage in conversations with professionals within the fields of Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Architectural Technology, and Experiential Design (Signage & Wayfinding and Environmental Graphic Design) about building their portfolios.

Amazon Sucks
January 24-February 2, 2025 | 918 Danforth Avenue

Discounted prices and unprecedented convenience come at a great cost. With a nod to Warhol's Brillo boxes, these screen-printed boxes use humour to draw attention to the corporations crushing small businesses. This installation by Christopher Rouleau is an urgent reminder to shop local.

SUSTAINABILITY
DesignTO Talks: Net Positive
January 31, 2025 | Interspace at Ace Hotel, 51 Camden Street

What is the trajectory of the climate crisis? If you envision our collective, planetary path, do you feel optimistic or distressed? ‘Net Positive’ invites artists, designers, and thinkers to explore innovative responses to the climate crisis from a perspective of abundance. How do we design from an understanding of humans as a part of nature, and not apart from nature? How do we repair the damage done to ecosystems? How can we design whole living systems?

REVIVE
January 24-March 30, 2025 | Gallery 235 at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West

REVIVE is a group exhibition featuring the work of seven local and international artists and designers, exploring endangered creative practices and materials as vital expressions of storytelling and identity, with Judy Anderson, Delali Cofie, Justine Gustafson, Ji Hee Kim, Mari Koppanen, Roda Medhat, and Jessie Sohpaul.

Dwell
January 24-February 2, 2025 | West Wing at Union Station, 65 Front Street West

‘Dwell’ is a design exhibition that offers opportunities to slow down and connect in the hustle and bustle of Union Station – Canada's busiest transportation hub. Five artists and designers explore what taking pause amidst the rush of urban travel looks like.

Server Farms of Miscellanea
January 15 -February 3, 2025 | The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West, Toronto

Get your back up at the Drake Hotel with Wind Up Radio's video and sound installation/cautionary message from the Server Farms of Miscellanea. We've got your multitudes.

This enormous success is made possible by a small but mighty team, dedicated volunteers, and the courage of many designers, artists, and creatives. Join us as we celebrate 15 years of design shaping Toronto and beyond. Together, let’s explore how creativity can build a more Joyful, Just, and Sustainable world.

About DesignTO
DesignTO is a non-profit arts organization celebrating 15 years of designing a sustainable, just, and joyful future. From January 24-February 2, 2025, the DesignTO Festival features 100+ free events across Toronto, showcasing hundreds of artists and designers. Known as Canada’s largest annual design festival, DesignTO has welcomed over 1 million attendees, reached 2.6 billion people through media, supported 6,500+ artists, and generated $120 million in tourism impact. “DesignTO isn’t just a festival; it’s an anti-loneliness machine,” co-founder Christina Zeidler remarked, underscoring the organization’s power to foster belonging and spark vital conversations about design’s role in shaping a better world.