Future Makers: Chairs by New Designers

On view from June 20, 2025

Created in partnership with Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Wilson School of Design (KPU) and the Museum of Vancouver (MOV), Future Makers: Chairs by New Designers brings together sustainability, design innovation and a critical reflection on the history of everyday material.

MOV issued a challenge: transform decades-old marine-grade mahogany into chairs fit for a new era. The material had a story: once used by Vancouver’s marine industry, it sat fallow for decades before it was donated to the MOV. The objective was simple—turn forgotten material into something useful again. KPU didn’t just accept the challenge. The school built an entire curriculum around it.

The KPU student design teams created 15 original chair prototypes using this vintage wood—wood that is rooted in a deeper and more difficult history: the extractive trade of tropical hardwoods that contributed to widespread deforestation across Central America. When the MOV accepted the donation, it meant acknowledging that legacy.

Students were invited to engage with the wood’s colonial past and environmental cost. Together, the partners agreed that proceeds from any future chair sales will support Indigenous-led reforestation programs in Guatemala—a commitment to repair that was embedded in the project.

Through collaborative mentorship, KPU faculty and MOV staff encouraged students to approach design not just as a technical exercise, but as an opportunity for cultural and ecological stewardship. The resulting works are surprising, thoughtful, and often poetic. Each chair is a meditation on connection, responsibility and what it means to shape the future through design.

Exhibition Team

MOV Exhibition Team:

MOV Curatorial Lead: Viviane Gosselin

Design and Fabrication Manager: Nicolas Cyr-Morton

Graphic Design: Mia Hansen

Institutional Partners

Project Partners