9th Annual Best of Canada Design Competition

BEST OF SHOW WINNER: Mamma rocking chair

The Mamma rocking chair is a tribute by industrial designer Patrick Messier to Sophie Fournier, his life and business partner, for the birth of their first child. When she announced that she was pregnant, she said that she would need a rocking chair. After the couple shopped in vain for a product that met their criteria for aesthetics and comfort, Messier decided to create something new.

Made from a single piece of injected fibreglass with a high-gloss urethane finish, the chair evokes a ribbon suspended in space, not to mention Verner Panton’s fluid, futuristic 1968 chair for Vitra. However, Mamma’s comfortable shape was actually derived from a grid based on the Fibonacci series, a sequence in which each term is the sum of its two predecessors (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, etc.), as found in nature (petals in a sunflower, spirals in a pinecone) and as a clue in The Da Vinci Code.


Levitt: This feels like a continuous ribbon. It’s very beautiful. It’s so direct and unfussy.

Rock: It looks fragile. Is it sturdy enough to be a rocker?

Chalmers: I’ll bet it tips over.

Sorensen: No, it won’t tip because the fin widens near the bottom.

PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER: Hoodoo lamp

Intended to convey the spirit of the powerful Alberta landscape, the Hoodoo lamp was inspired by hoodoos – spooky, spiky stone formations eroded by wind and water – in the Drumheller badlands. The four-foot-tall sculptural shape, reminiscent of a topographical map, was made by combining layers of Coroplast, a corrugated plastic sheet material, that were precision-cut by a computer-driven milling machine.


Levitt: Casper the friendly ghost! A flying saucer! This is an unusual work that makes you ask, “What’s going on?”

Taylor: Well, the blue fluorescent bulb does emit a ghostly glow.

Aure Sconce

Andrea and Robert White of Montreal’s Brave Design sought to create a simple wall sconce that would be interesting as an art object and functional as a lamp offering a variety of optical effects when switched on.

The user can mix lenses, reflectors and tinted acrylic sheets to obtain different effects. Illusions of depth and fractured patterns of light shift according to one’s viewing angle. The lighting is predominately diffuse with areas of sharper focus emanating from the lamp source, an energy-saving compact fluorescent bulb partially shielded by a tinted cover. The slots of the brushed-aluminum tube accept flat lenses and clear or diffuse, coloured acrylic sheets.


Kruse: It almost looks like a candle with a flame. Or a square painted on the drywall. It’s flexible. There are so many combinations of reflectors and coloured screens.

Chalmers: The shadow patterns give a three-dimensionality, as if the lamp were a laser hologram, not a photo.

The Food Experience

Mario Gagnon of Montreal’s Alto Design felt that while the ingredients of meals have evolved, the tools used to present and eat the meal have not changed much since the Middle Ages. So he created an integrated, modular system of utensils and tableware that uses materials – wood, porcelain, stainless steel – traditionally associated with food service.

Notches in the rear of the main tray accommodate four sizes of dishes. Together they can be used for condiments, sauces, fruits, vegetables and even the vertical presentation of tall items such as asparagus.

Notches in the rear of the main tray accommodate four sizes of dishes. Together they can be used for condiments, sauces, fruits, vegetables and even the vertical presentation of tall items such as asparagus.


Rock: It reminds me of a praying mantis.

Sorensen: All those curving little elements and the clips on the side must be a nuisance to clean.

Chalmers: Maybe, but what an interesting application.

Olo Chair

Olo, a molded-plastic update on the classic tub chair, is a versatile product. It can be used as a side chair or a conference, reception or lounge chair. The sculptural, flowing chair supports the body with the seat, back and arms combined in a single seamless form.

The translucent polypropylene shell, available in six colours or upholstered, sits on a chromed-steel, four-leg or sled base. The base fits into a recess in the underside of the chair’s shell with the connection discreetly hidden from view.


Rock: This is fun and fresh.

Taylor: There’s an underlying sense of humour.

When The Front is Also the Back mobile kiosk

When the Front is Also the Back is a transparent acrylic two-drawer storage unit intended to be transported in the back seat of a car or to serve as a freestanding display case for artworks. The drawers are wide, deep and shallow; they open in back as well as in front. Bearings for the custom drawer slides, as well as the pulls and locks, are of stainless steel.


Levitt: It’s a micro-economy bookstore. Cool!

Rock: This is precise and crisp

Tendril Panels

Tendril began life as a design for a necklace made of interlinking wool-felt units. It quickly expanded into a collection of fashion and home-décor items made of multiples of the die-cut felt pieces. The collection includes panels, cushions, necklaces, bracelets, bags and centrepieces. After the pieces are cut, the cast-offs, including the discs from the holes, are incorporated into the collection with no wastage of material.

Tendril began life as a design for a necklace made of interlinking wool-felt units. It quickly expanded into a collection of fashion and home-décor items made of multiples of the die-cut felt pieces. The collection includes panels, cushions, necklaces, bracelets, bags and centrepieces. After the pieces are cut, the cast-offs, including the discs from the holes, are incorporated into the collection with no wastage of material.


Chalmers: The felt pieces click together like a barrel of monkeys.

Levitt: I like the negative and positive space.