The IIDEX Canada Conference is a sourcing, networking and educational event that brings together various interior design and architecture communities to celebrate creativity and best practices. At this year's conference, IIDEX partnered with Entro, along with the City of Toronto, Ontario Wood, AWMAC, Sawmill Sid and PCL Graphics to host the 5th annual IIDEX Woodshop. The purpose of Woodshop is to show how wood that has typically been deemed unworthy can be sustainably repurposed to create commercial and consumer prototypes that are ready for market. Entro designed the exhibit to showcase the special feature collection, with material provided by IIDEX.
Our focus was to highlight the form and function of the design pieces by providing a colourful backdrop to bring life and vibrancy to the neutral tones that are inherent to natural wood. Considering that these exhibits are also often located in colourless venues with concrete floors and big open spaces, it was important to provide visual cues to invite passersby into the exhibit. We wanted this exhibit to be visible from afar. A large archway that acts as a beacon and gateway to the display can also be broken into smaller components that serve as both an entrance and exit pillar.
As the IIDEX Woodshop is a traveling exhibit, it was essential to create a modular system that was lightweight, compact and easy to install. One of the key criteria was that this modular exhibit needed to be flexible to accommodate various venues and footprints. This flexibility allowed for the exhibit to be more of a complete story, or alternatively be shown as a separate entity. Entro’s approach was to ensure that not only was the display aesthetically pleasing, but that the system would be intuitive both from a design perspective and from an installation and dismantle viewpoint. Entro developed standardized sizing (S,M,L) and colour coded the various sizes thus making it easy to reuse for future products. Labels identifying the objects were removable and inexpensive to print for future products. Strips of colour were added to the floor to create a sense of a perimeter and provide a focal point for the path and experience.
Entro’s Udo Schliemann also spoke at this year’s IIDEX Canada Conference, with a talk titled ‘Colour Outside the Lines: The Full Potential of Colour in Architecture and Interior Design’, where he explained how we could use colour to its full potential. Drawing from colour theory, a historical timeline of colour use and best practice examples in architecture and interior design, he showed how colour has been used as a powerful tool along with light, pattern and material to brighten community areas or transform traditionally sterile spaces such as recreational centres or medical facilities. This presentation challenged attendees to look beyond the neutral colour palette and introduce bigger and brighter colours into their work.
Find out more about the IIDEX Canada Conference here.