Fab 40: BlueSky MOD, Toronto
BlueSky MOD iss the brainchild of lawyer and entrepreneur Hy Rosenberg and Richard Stark, an urban planner with a company in custom-home construction. Their instinct, that Canadians would succumb to ‘low impact, high design’ cabin fever, led them to commission a Canadian in Norway.
The internationally renowned Todd Saunders (of the Aurland Lookout, nominated for a W* design award) designed the prototype prefab ‘to meet the needs of aesthetically and ethically discerning consumers,’ according to BlueSky. ‘Todd’s design feels very Canadian. It combines the simplicity of form found in Scandinavian or Japanese architecture with a strong sense of awareness and connection between interior and exterior,’ Stark remarks. ‘This is very Canadian.’ The result is an eco-ethical modern masterpiece.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
At its academy, Prada sets an agenda for the future: ‘Technology cannot replace the ability to work with your hands’Wallpaper* takes a trip to the Prada Group Academy in Scandicci, Tuscany, where Prada CEO Andrea Guerra and CMO Lorenzo Bertelli outline the future of Italian craft on the institution’s 25th anniversary
-
Nadia Lee Cohen distils a distant American memory into an unflinching new photo book‘Holy Ohio’ documents the British photographer and filmmaker’s personal journey as she reconnects with distant family and her earliest American memories
-
Hunker down in a perfectly equipped work-from-home hub this winterIf your WFH set-up needs an upgrade, or if you need to kit out a new small business from scratch, we’ve got you covered
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthFrom Malibu beach pads to cosy cabins blanketed in snow, Wallpaper* has featured some incredible homes this month. We profile our favourites below
-
Explore the riches of Morse House, the Canadian modernist gem on the marketMorse House, designed by Thompson, Berwick & Pratt Architects in 1982 on Vancouver's Bowen Island, is on the market – might you be the new custodian of its modernist legacy?
-
Cosy-up in a snowy Canadian cabin inspired by utilitarian farmhousesInspired by local farmhouses, Canadian cabin Timbertop is a minimalist shelter overlooking the woodland home of wild deer, porcupines and turkeys
-
Buy yourself a Sanctuary, a serene house above the British Columbia landscapeThe Sanctuary was designed by BattersbyHowat for clients who wanted a contemporary home that was also a retreat into nature. Now it’s on the market via West Coast Modern
-
La Maison de la Baie de l’Ours melds modernism into the shores of a Québécois lakeACDF Architecture’s grand family retreat in Quebec offers a series of flowing living spaces and private bedrooms beneath a monumental wooden roof
-
Peel back maple branches to reveal this cosy midcentury Vancouver gemOsler House, a midcentury Vancouver home, has been refreshed by Scott & Scott Architects, who wanted to pay tribute to the building's 20th-century modernist roots
-
A spectacular waterside house in Canada results from a radical overhaulSplyce Design’s Shoreline House occupies an idyllic site in British Columbia. Refurbished and updated, the structure has been transformed into a waterside retreat
-
Hilborn House, one of Arthur Erickson’s few residential projects, is now on the marketThe home, first sketched on an envelope at Montreal Airport, feels like a museum of modernist shapes, natural materials and indoor-outdoor living