Design Exchange facts for kids
 |
|
| Established | 1994 |
|---|---|
| Type | Design, Education Centre |
| Location |
|
| Website | designexchangetoronto.com |
The Design Exchange (DX) is a special place in Toronto, Canada, where events are held. It's located in a historic building that used to be the Toronto Stock Exchange. This building became part of a big skyscraper called the Toronto-Dominion Centre in 1991. The Design Exchange used to be a museum about design, but that museum closed in 2019. Since 2017, it has hosted a big design festival every two years called the Expo for Design, Innovation, & Technology (EDIT).
How the Design Exchange Started
In the 1980s, some important things happened in Canada's design world. A government group called Design Canada closed in 1985. Also, the University of Toronto almost closed its architecture school in 1986, but then changed its mind.
The building at 234 Bay Street, where the Design Exchange is now, was once the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Stock Exchange moved out in 1983. This building was special because it was named a "heritage property" in 1978, meaning it was important to history and needed to be protected. A company called Olympia and York (O&Y) bought the building.
O&Y asked for a study to see if people would like the building to become a cultural design center. The study showed that many people supported this idea. In January 1986, a group of people who wanted this design center met to talk to the city government. The city officially recognized ten of them as "The Group for the Creation of a Design Centre in Toronto." This group became a legal organization in 1987 and later became the Design Exchange. The city also did its own study and found that the idea for a design center was "both possible and desirable."
In 1986, the Bay Street building was sold to Cadillac Fairview and the Toronto Dominion Bank. However, O&Y made sure that the new owners would still support the idea of a design center. The new owners had to pay the city $500,000 each year to help run the center. In 1988, this center was named the Design Exchange. The group of citizens who had worked so hard for it were given control of the new center.
What the Design Exchange Does
In 1996, the Design Exchange started its own collection of design items. It held exhibitions to show off cool designs and also offered educational programs. They even gave out awards for great design work. In March 2012, Shauna Levy became the director, and the Design Exchange started focusing only on being a design museum. For example, in 2015, they had an exhibition called Smarter.Faster.Tougher. about the design of sportswear.
In 2017, the Design Exchange started a 10-day festival called Expo for Design, Innovation & Technology (EDIT). They worked with the United Nations Development Programme for this festival. The first EDIT festival was held in an old soap factory in an area called East Harbour.
In 2019, Razor Suleman became the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Design Exchange. In the same year, the Design Exchange decided to sell its collection and stopped being a design museum. After closing the museum, the Design Exchange focused more on the EDIT festival, which happens every two years.
Also in 2019, the Design Exchange became the home for Elevate, a Canadian non-profit group that runs a yearly tech festival.
In 2022, the Design Exchange reopened its doors as a venue for events. It has over 40,000 square feet (about 3,716 square meters) of space. The building was renovated and reopened to the public in April 2023. The new design honors the building's original look while also making it feel modern.
See also
- List of design museums
- Industrial design
