Castor Design
Innovative Creations: Casting Canadian Roots into Uncommon Objects
Ask Ryan Taylor of Castor Design for his firm’s mandate and he’ll quote Baudelaire: “You gave me your mud and I have turned it to gold.” Taylor, Kei Ng and Brian Richer definitely cherish their Canadian roots, an aesthetic that comes out in such projects as their portable sauna box built inside a shipping container, and headphones that come with deer antlers attached. Their work combines stone carving, woodworking, and welding skills with a keen eye for creating “uncommon objects,” including the recently designed Gravity Glass translucent bong, which blends the visual appeal of mid-century homeware with the functional efficiency that cannabis users have long revered. Case in point: their newly launched Blind Stool is an aluminum casting of a dilapidated stool found in a duck blind in northern Ontario. There’s also the guitarpedal-inspired This Is Not a F**king Droog Light – a light made up of 12-volt truck lights connected by thick spiral cords that plug in through guitar jacks. While Castor’s custom work is usually reserved for larger scale interior projects, they will modify their existing products to suit your ideal specs.
Castor Design also collaborated with Toronto chef Matty Matheson on the new Matheson cookware collection. The first product, a robust 10-inch cast iron skillet with a lid, merges Castor’s signature design sensibilities with Matheson’s culinary expertise. First teased on YouTubeway in June, the skillet is the perfect blend of utility and artistry, offering yet another example of Castor’s ability to turn everyday objects into something extraordinary.
