One of the IDS Vancouver events is an architectural tour of the new home of Ross Bonetti, co-founder of Livingspace.
Design Miami. Design London. Maison&Objet in Paris. Most of the world’s major interiors festivals have been COVID cancelled for 2020.
One notable exception: IDS Vancouver. It’s still taking place from Oct. 1 to 8, albeit with a new, so-called hybrid format. Partly, that means all the events will be streamed online in some way. But there is also an in-person component, though for the first time in 16 years, the event won’t unfurl across the massive Vancouver Convention Centre. The centre has a capacity for 12,000 visitors and the province has limited indoor gatherings to 50 people or fewer.
An exterior shot of Ross Bonetti's home.
“In a way, I’m excited,” says Jody Phillips, the director of IDS Vancouver. “This gives us a chance to be creative, do more intimate setups in small venues, and meet the design community where they are.” Sometimes, quite literally. One of the events, an architectural tour, takes places in the new home of Ross Bonetti, co-founder of Livingspace, one of Vancouver’s favourite furniture stores.
Halifax-based architect Omar Gandhi is redesigning the shop windows of retailer Inform Interiors with a mix of plants and mystical monsters inspired by the children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are. Beyond being whimsical, the installation reflects IDS Vancouver’s 2020 theme: Natural Wonder. “We picked the theme before COVID, then thought about changing it,” Phillips says. “Ultimately, we decided that after people were locked indoors for so long, the deep, varied meaning nature has in our lives is more relevant than ever.”
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