Casalife turned its Liberty Village showroom into a design expo Thursday to display the work of more than a dozen local personalities during a cocktail party attended by some 800 guests. The event—dubbed Mi Casa Su Casa—aimed to expose the process involved in taking an idea from a simple napkin sketch to a piece of furniture.
"It's intended to invoke conversation and awareness of what it takes to come up with a great product these days,” Casalife owner Rob Whitfield said of the event. "The original concept was to invite people that don't normally design furniture to propose an idea. We wanted to do three or four, but when the ball got rolling it rolled me over. We're now doing 12 or 13 pieces, and we had to put the brakes on it or we would have had 40 of them. There might be a sequel."
Whitfield invited fashion designers Christopher Bates, Evan Biddell, and Shawn Hewson of Bustle Clothing, INK C.E.O. Charles Khabouth, chef Roger Mooking, graphic design firm Studiolit, interior designers Karen Sealy from Sealy Design Inc. and Carmen Dragomir from esQape Design, architecture studio Raw Design, eTalk host Tanya Kim, and Anwar, Matt, and Allan from the Design Agency to participate in the event.
"There is some pretty innovative stuff. Most of the designs are about condos and small spaces. A lot of them are interesting and they're all somewhat multifunctional. You can see the different disciplines," said Whitfield, who planned the event in conjunction with Kim Graham of Kim Graham & Associates.
All of the pieces were completed within six to eight weeks of conception—a process that normally takes as long as six months. "There have been a lot of late nights. They're not finished products, although they will look like it. A genuine prototype is like more of a mock-up,” said Whitfield, who added that it's his intention that some, if not all, of the prototypes will end up in production and for sale in his store. (Students from Ryerson University and the Ontario College of Art & Design circulated through the crowd, obtaining feedback on each of the pieces Thursday.)
"Everybody has come up with something that really reflects who they are," Graham said. "Charles Khabouth was inspired by a crazy metallic heel he loved. The result is a table that is a stiletto."
The design theme continued into the evening's food and drink. Servers offered cocktails made with Wyborowa Exquisite vodka poured from a bottle designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry—whose napkin sketch was on display—and cocktails with names like Triple Citrus 24 and E-sencha-l, made with Beefeater 24.
Ultra chef Chris Zielinksi served pan-seared gnocchi with chanterelle mushrooms, asparagus, roast shallots, Parmesan, and white truffle oil. The dishes at a food station by Blowfish Restaurant and Sake Bar included one-bite kobe gyoza pan-seared dumplings, red-hot curry salmon maki, and tuna carpaccio. "We're going to have greens that are still in the soil, and Sublime Catering will be making salads out of them. And the staff from Brazen Head Irish Pub [across the parking lot from the Casalife showroom] will walk in the door with food from the pub,” she said.
A container office, a self-sustaining office created from a recycled shipping container by BSQ Landscape Design Studio, sat outside the Casalife showroom, and furniture pods from Nuevo Furniture provided a place for guests to lounge on a patio. "It will be high-end design inside and out. It's meant to stimulate people," Graham said.
Event sponsors included Beefeater, Steam Whistle, Wyborowa Exquisite Wodka, Palette Furniture, Canobo, Carpet One Floor & Home, Solutions Custom Fabricating Inc., Plyboo, Torlys Smart Floors, EchoWood, Nuevo, Rhoddy Design, Future Temp Glass Ltd., Southwest Greens Ontario, Johnny's Finishing Shop, Suzanne Gardner Flowers, Ryerson University, Bakers Furniture, Design: Studiolit, and Umbrella Cabinetry.
