| Architecture Studies Library |
 
|
|
|
|
| Architecture Studies Library |
|
|
|
|
| Location(s): |
|
|---|---|
| Founded: | 1980 |
| Project(s) Involved With: |
|
| Address Info: | 55 Booth Avenue Toronto, Ontario M4M 2M3 Telephone: (416) 778-9779 Fax: (416) 778-9747 |
| URL (bibliographic): | http://andrewblum.net/typepad/2003/12/the_intuitive_t.html |
| Notes & References: | George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg were only casual friends when they attended Ryerson. Each left school and started his own interior design freelance business. Also see: http://www.ddimagazine.com/displayanddesignideas/reports_analysis/design100/2004/detail.jsp?sort=100 Three years later, they met by accident on the street. Both were ready for a change, so they decided to share a studio together. Soon each one's work was melding with the other's and in 1980, they formed Yabu Pushelberg, now one of Canada's most successful interior design firms. "We started by picking up whatever we could," Pushelberg remembers. Now the firm specializes in hospitality and retail environments. Since their official partnership, the duo has collaborated on some 700 design projects. In Toronto, you can find their work in the gracious interior of The Princess of Wales Theatre or at Yorkdale's Tip Top Tailors and Holt Renfrew stores. You can find it in Europe, the U.S., and Asia. You can find it in settings as diverse as a spa in Beverly Hills, a television studio complex in Taipei, or a former Toronto warehouse converted into spectacular residential lofts. What you will not find is a signature style that labels any of their work as "a Yabu Pushelberg creation." As designers, the two are continually reinventing themselves, and each environment is anchored in a sense of purpose and context uniquely its own. Every creation is an original. At present, the firm is in the midst of bidding on hotels in New Delhi and Venice. Although 20 to 50 percent of their work is outside of Canada, there are no plans to open another business elsewhere. "I think there are limits to the size you can be to do good work," Pushelberg says. The firm has about 30 employees, and many of the employees are, coincidentally, Ryerson grads. Pushelberg says he derives great satisfaction from a job well done, and that is what keeps him motivated in his work. But his home is another matter. "It's the shoemaker's story," he admits ruefully, referring to the tale of the shoemaker's son who never had shoes. "It's a work in progress." ND |