This Legendary Architecture Firm Just Launched Its First Furniture Line

Back when we celebrated Western Living’s 50^th anniversary in 2021, there were a handful of architects and designers whose work was so transcendent, they earned a spot on our list of 50 innovations that shaped Western Canada. That John and Patricia Patkau of Patkau Architects would be featured wasn’t even a question—they were one of the first firms that came up as we brainstormed for that issue.

Now the team behind iconic designs like the Audain Art Museum in Whistler, the Temple of Light in Nelson, even modest but stunning skating shelters in Winnipeg, is launching a new furniture line.

And while the scale is much smaller than their typical work, the design of the furniture line follows a similar path for the firm. Every beautiful building they create is an exercise in problem-solving, and their new designs are no exception. “We always tried to address a wide variety of issues,” says architect John Patkau. “Issues like sustainability and diversity. We’ve attempted to rethink things, especially materials, and take things that are out there and use them in unconventional ways to create objects of beauty that are innovative.”

Those material experiments—which they outlined in their 2017 book, Material Operations—started with those skating shelter designs in Winnipeg. “It was an attempt to think about how plywood could be used in a self-supporting volumetric way instead of the sheets we think of,” says Patkau. “And our furniture designs are a straight line from those skating shelters—looking around at the things that are available to you, but taken and used in an unconventional way with an unconventional result.”

Their new Minima Lightforms—available as a floor, table or pendant lamp (from $950)—are a perfect example of this process, says Patkau. The material for the lights themselves is a propriety one that’s an unusual composite of polymer and paper. It looks and feels like paper, but much stronger. “It’s very robust,” says Patkau, “but it has the warmth and tactility of paper.”

The design for their Maitake table came about as John and Patricia were building their own home on Bowen Island. “Pat said to me, ‘we need a table that’s something like a tree stump,” says Patkau. “We began playing with the idea of elements. We call it Maitake because it’s sort of mushroom-like in character.” The pair developed a system of low tables that can be put together in nearly infinite ways. “There’s a great variety of sizes and scales, so you could have a small table  that works in a condo, or an enormous one in a lobby area.”

Other products in the new line include the Joey stool (“like sitting in a hammock”), as well as several tables and chair designs—and the aforementioned skating shelter, too. The Minima floor and table lamp will be available in Vancouver at Inform Interiors, and the rest of the line is available on demand at patkau.ca