Institute without Boundaries Information

The Institute without Boundaries (IwB) is a Toronto-based studio that works towards collaborative design action and seeks to achieve social, ecological, and economic innovation. Founded in 2003, the Institute consists of a post-graduate program that teaches collaborative design strategy to professionals from diverse backgrounds, a research division that develops projects around curriculum projects and a commercial division that delivers professional design consultation based on Institute methods. Our inaugural project, Massive Change, explored and sparked discourse on the future of global design. Our second project, World House, confronted the necessary evolution of shelter by developing housing systems based on principles of sustainability, accessibility, technological responsiveness and ecological balance. In 2007, a model prototype of the World House was constructed and would later be developed into the Canühome, a sustainable wood dwelling that premiered at the Green Living Show in 2008. At the Institute, we see the designer as a problem solver with the ability to effect positive change for humanity. We are a place where students, teachers, industry and community experts can come together not only as creators and designers but as ambassadors of hope. We imagine how to live, learn, work, and play together as a global community and seek alternative development patterns and a viable path to a bright future.