Panel Discussion: Standardized Missing Middle Designs
Thursday, October 15, 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Stanley A. Milner Library, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton
Join City Architect Carol Belanger and a panel of architects and community voices for a discussion on standardized missing middle designs, part of EDW 2026.
The City of Edmonton presents a panel discussion highlighting its standardized missing middle design project, moderated by City Architect Carol Belanger, featuring architects D'Arcy Jones (D'Arcy Jones Architects) and Meighan King Wall (Two Row Architect), alongside representatives from the local development and community sectors (Mauricio Ochoa, Board President, Infill Development in Edmonton Association (IDEA) and Laura Cunningham-Shpeley, Executive Director, Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues(EFCL)).
Panel questions and previews for all seven designs will be shared so attendees can follow along with the material being discussed.
Design For Human Experience - High Quality Sleep
Thursday, October 15, 1:00pm to 2:15pm
Araam inc., 11616 178 St NW, Edmonton
Enter through the building’s main entrance and go up the stairs to second floor.
Learn about the structural and experiential conditions to experience better quality sleep. See how mattresses get made!
This event will consist of two components:
Presentation/Talk- Guests can enjoy light refreshments as we talk about how to develop the environmental conditions in a bedroom for a client to sleep better, engaging different senses to stimulate restfulness, and how to choose the right kind of mattress based on the type of sleeper someone is.
Factory Tour- Showing the process of creating beds, behind-the-scenes of Araam’s manufacturing process, right here in our 75,000 sq ft facility in Edmonton.
Please enter through the building's main entrance and go up the stairs to the second floor.
Design coLab by Alair
Thursday, October 15, 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Authenticus, 14045 156 St, Edmonton, main floor entrance
Our Design Lab event interprets Method by making the design process itself the experience: instead of showing finished spaces, we project a scaled floor plan onto the floor and let designers physically walk the plan, so guests witness the spatial thinking and decision-making that normally stays hidden behind a rendering. The drop-in, drinks-and-networking format turns "how things are made" into something you move through and discuss in real time, not just view.
What Are People For — Film Screening & Discussion
Thursday, October 15, 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Citadel Theatre, Zeidler Hall
Edmonton Design Week presents the Canadian premiere of What Are People For, a new documentary on strategic design pioneer Patrick Whitney. With four decades of research, teaching, and mentorship, he changed how design is understood, used, and taught around the world.
Whitney, who grew up in Edmonton, spent nearly three decades as Dean of the IIT Institute of Design in Chicago. He developed methods and frameworks built on a simple premise: that design's real value lies in tackling problems bigger than any single product, from healthcare systems to civic infrastructure.
The film, directed by Gary Hustwit (Helvetica, Objectified, Urbanized, Rams, and the Oscar-shortlisted Eno), argues that the application of strategic design principles are necessary now more so in previous times.
Following the screening, Whitney and longtime collaborator André Nogueira are joined on stage by local design leaders for a live discussion on the ideas at the center of the film.
Ashley Lukasik, Executive Producer; Gary Hustwit, Director and Producer; André Nogueira, Co-Producer; Rick Valicenti, Graphic Designer
