The Daniels’ spectacular collection of art, furniture and light
fixtures fills a home that is just as spectacular in form. As sophisticated
as it is green and sustainable -- think kitchen floors made largely of crushed walnut shells -- the home's ingenious design and the way it mingles with the owners' decor choices points to the
Daniels' central lifestyle criterion: emotion. To make everyday
detail as evocative as can be.
Part II: Art, Light and Chairs -- So Many Chairs!
By: Rana Florida, Creative Class Group; Special Contributor to HGTV.ca
Who: David Daniels is a principal in real estate investment
company, Daniels Capital Group, as well as sustainable.TO, a “green” architecture & building firm. David is also Executive Producer of The Acting Up Musical Theatre
Company and the Glenn Gould Lectures, and is involved in TV, film and theatre
projects with various partners in Canada and the US.
Main staircase: custom chandelier of vintage lamp shade frames, stretched with vintage linen by JamesPlumb (England).
Kate Daniels is a principal of Daniels/Stephenson, a public relations and
production company. Kate is also a board member of the Canadian Film
Centre and the Governor
General Awards Foundation. Most notably, Kate is super-mom to her and David's two children,
aged five and seven! Both Kate and David are involved in a number of philanthropic projects around
health, culture and education, which is a whole other (several) conversation...
Paul Dowsett is an Architect and principal at sustainable.TO.
Since graduating with distinction from the University of Waterloo
School of Architecture, in over two decades of local and international
environmentally-sensitive residential, commercial and institutional
architectural practice, Paul has encountered so many Clients confused by
green-information overload that he has started sustainable.TO
/architecture + building, to assist others make sense of it all, and add
"green" and practical value to Clients' properties. Paul was principal
architect on the "reimagining" of Daniels' home.
Front hall, left: wooden chairs by Donald Judd (USA); photograph by Miklos Gaal (Finland); Dog Lamp by JamesPlumb (UK). Right: glass chairs by Tobias Wong (Canada/US) in homage to Donald Judd; painting by Ulf Puder (Germany); bicycle sculpture by Jarbas Lopes
(Brazil).
What: Originally designed as a single family home by
Mackenzie Waters and was awarded the only Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Award in 1935. Of note: the renovation won another RAIC award seventy-five years later, this time for sustainable design! The home is described as a composition of
plain masses. It's a rare example of domestic exterior art deco
architecture in Toronto. As Tim Morawetz, author of Art Deco
Architecture in Toronto, notes, "1920s and 30s homes rarely featured
Art Deco styling on the exterior for the reason of not wishing to
appear too modern, showy or not fitting into the neighbourhood."
The
landmark piece of Toronto's Art Deco heritage was sensitively
transformed into a singular achievement of contemporary living, combining
original details and materials with green, sustainable building and
architectural practices.
The front hallway: artwork by Eldon Garnet (Canada); chairs by Laslo Kozma (Hungary).
Where: The premier neighbourhood of South Hill in Toronto.
Rana Florida: What was the overall design sensibility?
David Daniels: Our design sense is clean and ordered, intentionally upset by gestures
of the unexpected. Decorative elements are present but minimal, with a
mix of high and low finishes and furnishings, recycling and reusing
whenever possible.
Dining Room Detail: chairs by Marcel Kammerer (Austria) and artwork by Ross Bleckner (USA)
Living room detail: Red Blue Chair by Gerrit Rietveld (Holland); standing lamp by Greta Grossman (USA).
RF: You have an amazing chair collection. Can you tell us about these unique pieces?
DD: I began collecting chairs and lamps casually 30 years ago; Kate and I have been serious collectors for about a decade. They are sculpture to me, plain and simple. Our tastes
run the gamut, although I tend to focus on 1900-1950. Those pieces
have the feeling of craft about them; touched by a human hand. We tend to
shy away from synthetics and plastics, but have no hard and fast
rules, except to stay away from knock-offs. We travel the world on
the internet to search and research. Although we have bought pieces
unseen from Europe and Scandinavia, we try to see the pieces “in vivo”
whenever possible. Kate has had a say in much of the collection. She has
an excellent eye and is a very quick study. The collection reflects both our tastes.
Vintage Chairs from left to right: Early Bentwood Chair by Michael Thonet (Germany) circa 1905, Shell Chair by Hans Wegner (Denmark) 1948, Puzzle Chair #1 by David Kawecki (USA) 1991, Captain’s Chair by George Nakashima (USA) 1964 and Armchair by Otto Wagner (Germany) 1906.
Roller Cane chair by Paul Tuttle (USA) circa 1970s, lamp by Motte (France) and Lamino Chair by Yngve Ekstrom (Sweden) circa 1956.
Master bath: artwork by John Massey (Canada); 1930s chair by unknown (England).
RF: Your lighting collection is also quite formidable. Can you tell us how you find such chandeliers?
DD: Our lighting comes from all the
same resources as the furniture, although we try to buy in North America
so I don’t have to rewire! The chandelier, designed especially for the main staircase, is by
young English designers JamesPlumb, who work with reclaimed and repurposed materials.
The shades are made from antique linens on old lamp forms.
Dressing room: vintage mirror table (South America), vintage pendant lamp (unknown);
framed print by Leonard Cohen (Canada).
Details: Chair by Roland Rainer (Austria); WWII US Army issue campaign table that collapses into a box for travel! Early Fortuny floor lamp; two vintage table lamps by Christian Dell (France).
RF: Finally, about the Art... What do you look for when collecting?
DD: The
same holds true for Art: no hard
and fast rules. Although the world of drawing, painting and sculpture is
far more complex than furniture. We gravitate to work that displays
painstaking technique rather than merely cleverness and intellect. The
best work is a combination of all three, plus if it makes my heart skip a
beat, or takes my breath away, then there’s emotion at work
too...and that's the vital criterion.
Detail: Watercolour series by David Bolduc (Canada); console table by Ernst Schwadron (Austria).
Side stairs; on the wall, vintage sign letters.
RF: What is your favorite room in the house?
DD: The kitchen may be my favorite
room. Bad kitchen design is a bete noire for me. I personally worked on
every detail of the design, allowing for the most practical and
ergonomic experience possible. Everything from the height of the
stainless steel counters, the dimensions of the drawers and cabinets, to
the work flow in and around the room has been scrutinized. Of course,
it helps that Kate is a masterful cook and knows exactly what she wants
and needs. If the response from chefs both professional and amateur who
have cooked here is any indication, it is a success.
Kitchen: designing the kitchen, David drew inspiration from painter, Paul Klee.
Kitchen: dining set by Hans Wegner (Denmark). Above table 1950s pendant lamps by FontanaArte with faceted glass lenses. Far right: Precedent Armchairs by Edward Wormley (USA) 1947.
DD: The kitchen floor
fools everybody. Concrete? No, terrazzo? Both wrong. It is too pliant
underfoot to be either. It is recycled, crushed walnut shells in a
pourable water-based slurry. Once hardened it is sanded and sealed.
Delicious!
Kitchen lounge area: Sofa and chairs by Gunilla Allard (Sweden). Frozen Food photograph by Irving Penn (USA) circa 1977.
Pool house: sofa and chairs, Canadian Tire!
RF: What's next for you?
DD: My next personal project is to design a brand new home to passive house standards here in the city.
The Daniels, Part I
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