IDS celebrates 2021 event, looks forward to Fall Virtual Conference

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The Interior Design Show (IDS21) celebrated its 23rd year by going digital on a virtual stage from May 10 to May 13, 2021. Presented by Volvo, IDS21 offered unparalleled access to the most notable design leaders from across the globe who met on this powerful platform to discuss this year’s conference two main themes: Sustainability and Designing for the Future. IDS21 is proud to have partnered with BAIDA (Black Architects and Interior Designers Associations) as its charitable partner this year.

IDS21 kicked off with a keynote speech from Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall, Dean of Faculty of Design at Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD) who spoke about the decolonization of design.

The show continued with keynote addresses from international speakers including Suhair Khan, Strategic Projects, Google, who discussed the future of technology and interdisciplinary design with Tomos Lewis, Bureau Chief Toronto, Monocle.

IKEA presented Home for Humanity, a panel exploring the building blocks for creating cities and homes that feel better for more people today and into the future with speakers Akanksha Deo Sharma, IKEA of Sweden, Alicia Carroll, IKEA Canada and Johanna Fabrin, SPACE10.

The Miele Stage featured a variety of seminars including Kristi Avalos’s, President & CEO of Accessology, presentation on making accessible design beautiful and Mike Johnson’s, Director of Sustainability at 3form, discussion on purposeful disruption. Each hour-long session brought forward new ideas and teachings for participants to take forward in their own practice.

In keeping with the commitment to this year’s themes of sustainability and designing for the future, the Prototype Pitch sessions, presented by Caesarstone, featured products, concepts, and ideas not currently in production which addressed new ideas for architecture, design and building industries. IDS21 was the first year of these contest sessions providing an opportunity for new emerging designers, design students and newly created design firms to showcase their ideas to IDS’ discerning professional trade audience.

This year’s winner, RainStick Shower, presented by co-founder and CEO Alisha McFetridge, is a high-flow shower system, which saves 80 per cent water and 80 per cent energy through point-of-use recirculation and filtration, making water clean while still maintaining water pressure. RainStick is a clean technology company committed to cutting residential water usage in half. As part of IDS’ commitment to supporting emerging design, RainStick won a cash prize of $1,000 as well as a complimentary space at IDS22.

IDS21 will return on Oct. 4 to 6, 2021, for its Fall Virtual Conference with themes of Business of Design, Innovation and Future Trends. This event will focus on tools, developing new ideas, and scaling and innovating design practices in a constantly changing world. Topics will include business planning, marketing, change management, the sustainability of your practice, new materials, digital fabrication and future trends. More details on this event will be available shortly.

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