Vision Statement

WORKshop is an experimental design centre located on the concourse level of 80 Bloor Street West in Yorkville, Toronto's luxury shopping district. The centre was launched in February 2010 to further the visionary design work of Hong Kong-based Kin Yeung whose approach establishes reciprocity between design traditions and excellence spawned in China over many centuries and today's contemporary urban life styles in both the East and the West.

As its name suggests, WORKshop is simultaneously focused on "work" (working, making work, objects that work) and "shop" (shopping, retail shop). In the broadest sense, it is a research center and laboratory. It can also be understood as an incubator for the development of ideas and prototypes intended for production and for commercial distribution in both local and international markets. Initially WORKshop concentrates on the conceptualizing, designing, and testing of various lifestyle products, drawing inspiration from the simplicity, elegance, and refinement of the Chinese Ming period. WORKshop explores materials, material sourcing, new technologies, and potential manufacturing processes and locations in order to maximize product quality and marketing potential.

Guided by Artistic Director Larry Wayne Richards, WORKshop engages students, emerging designers, and established practitioners in experimental work, with the intention of developing products suitable for the market place. Modest research grants are awarded to support proposals seen as worthy of further development. Imaginative window displays, art and design exhibitions, website promotion, and periodic seminars will be integral to the development of the WORKshop and its products. The products and processes of the WORKshop are consistent with and reinforcing of the eight design principles of Blanc de Chine, established by Kin Yeung, including emphasis on: functionality, simplicity, serenity, harmony, purity, subtlety, sensuality, and comfort. As the WORKshop experiment develops, the guiding principles will be further defined and articulated.

Moreover, with an overview of many centuries of Chinese history and culture, Toronto-based WORKshop has become a dynamic centre for ideas and design innovation, simultaneously building on tradition and "the familiar" while generating new, surprising objects that challenge established expectations.