Designing for Drama

For his Living Luxe Design Show debut, Omid Taba of OE Design rejected the traditional white-walled gallery, instead building a layered, moody oasis that wowed the judges and earned him the Outstanding Booth Design award.

By Elia Essen | Photography by Natasha Gerschon | Photographed at the Living Luxe Design Show | Grooming by Kristin Innocent

On a Saturday night in late April, the top representatives of Toronto’s design community and beyond gather under the glimmering lights of Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex. Dressed in their finest, guests enjoy their dinner as one by one the Living Luxe Awards winners are named.

As the evening wears on, the anticipation builds in the elegantly appointed hall. Looking effortlessly cool and dapper in a tailored black suit, crisp white shirt and his signature chic circular glasses, Omid Taba of OE Design already has one trophy at his table—the Mastermind Builders award for his track record of crea ting exemplary architectural masterpieces. Still, he can't help but hope to add one more to his collection.

While each of the awards is a prestigious accomplishment, the final award of the night for Outstanding Booth Design is particularly coveted among the Living Luxe Design Show participants. The more than 80 exhibitors have spent months designing and planning every detail of their booths, followed by a frenzied three days to install everything in their designated spots in the Toronto Congress Centre for the four-day show. And while it’s all worth it for the connections made with the other participants and 21,000 visitors, a trophy never hurt anyone. 

So, as Jennifer Lipkowitz, show co-founder along with   Anthony Sirianni, and LLDS show partner Diana Pires open the envelope containing the name of the Outstanding Booth Design winner, the crowd is a sea of eager and hopeful faces. But it is Omid Taba, an LLDS first time exhibitor, who makes his way to the stage to gracefully accept the crystalline trophy. 

Across town, his award-winning creation, the OE Design Gallery by Omid Taba, spans the back corner of the Toronto Congress Centre, which is home to the Living Luxe Design Show for the weekend. While the out-of-the-way positioning might have inspired some to go loud and over-the-top to attract visitors, Taba instead leaned into the placement. The result? A peaceful and layered oasis with a side of sultry. 

“Honestly, I just wanted to be different than what everybody usually thinks for the gallery,” Taba says. “Usually, if you see any art gallery, they have white walls, and I didn't want to just build the white walls over there.” Instead, Taba used coarse rope wrapped between metal frames to create semi-translucent walls to guide viewers through the space. With only two months to conceptualize and do the preliminary building, what initially seemed straightforward ended up being a laborious process of wrapping 20,000 feet of rope that took 12 full days. 

The time has paid off in the end; the texture of the rope creates a captivating and unexpected backdrop for the pieces, which included multimedia mushroom images by Tamara Bahry, collage by Anthony Wolch, colourful portraits by Josh Hy, large abstracts by Peter Triantos, huge sparkling works by Mahyar Amiri, vivid compositions by Steven Sabados, and 3D creations by Mike Raleza.

The show’s first dedicated art gallery, the booth creates intimate nooks for each of the seven artists whose work is displayed. “Having the art gallery added a different layer to our show,” Lipkowitz says. “Art has the power to revolutionize a space. We were honoured to provide these Canadian artists with this incredible opportunity to share their creativity with the world.”

After following the booth’s curving path to admire the work of the seven artists, viewers come to the heart of the gallery. A faux tree by Allure & Illume, its base encircled by a terra cotta banquette, is illuminated by dozens of twinkling white lights in its branches, sourced from a connection through Lipkowitz. In the bustling, bright hall of the Congress Centre, the plush benches illuminated in the tree’s soft glow offer a welcome moment of repose and reflection—like the peace of a park nestled within the din of a city. 

Nearby is a compact circular lounge area that Taba calls “the Man Cave.” In reds, greens and blacks, it’s moody, sexy and inviting. Against the back wall curves an image of a seated black figure in misty woods, a swarm of black birds rushing from their head—the inspiration for the vignette. With green velvet sofas, chic leather armchairs, and a plush red area rug, the lounge would make for another comfortable place for a reprieve. The catch? The entire space is encased in a circular tube of glass topped with a black globe—no one can enter. 

In creating the concept, Taba envisioned a man sitting inside alone, enjoying his man cave. “He is thinking, he’s got his cigar, he has his Scotch inside it,” he says. “The reason he was completely blocked and nobody can access inside is because this is your space, and nobody can distract you from your space. It’s like a dream.”

For a spectator, looking through the glass into the unreachable lounge feels strangely intimate. By creating a space typically intended for privacy and then inviting viewers to take a look inside, Taba flips the design narrative on its head. “People love to have a space of their own. Sometimes you want to go inside the room and close the door,” he says. “You don't want any distraction. You want to play your music. You want to smoke or drink or do whatever you want to do and think about everything you want in that space.”

From the Man Cave to the curving pathways where the art hangs on rope walls to the illuminated tree, walking through the OE Design Gallery transports its visitors to another world, one that feels removed from time and invites them to relax and stay for a while. 

“I wanted people to come in and say, ‘Wow, this is a different place, this is a different idea.’ And honestly, that's the reaction I got from people,” Taba says. “Some people came to the show a couple of times, and every time they came to the show, they came to see the booth. So many people came to me and said, ‘You know what? We thought it was a gallery so it's going to be an all-white hall. But when you walk inside, you don't want to leave.” He recalls one woman who came to the booth with her kids and stayed for an hour and a half, perhaps the ultimate testament to the gallery’s success.

And the judges agree. Lori Morris, founder of Lori Morris Design and awards show judge, calls it “a deserving win” by the firm. “The booth was a show-stopping display of creativity, textures and colour,” she says. “It was very moving and completely interesting. It was out-of-the-box thinking of creativity, style and elegance.”

Lipkowitz adds that she loved the booth’s uniqueness. “The detailing and utilization of the ropes in the gallery was truly genius,” she says. “I have never seen a gallery look like this, and I felt it was truly one of a kind.”

Ultimately, gratitude is Taba’s overwhelming takeaway from the experience. He credits Lipkowitz and Sirianni for encouraging him to participate despite never having come to a show like this before. “I really appreciate what they’ve done because I didn't have that experience. They opened another door for me,” Taba says. “I believe all the artists need this. If people think they are creative, they have to come out and show what they are doing to other people.” 

He also expresses his appreciation for the talented suppliers he worked with to bring the booth to life: Union Lighting & Furnishings, Allure & Illume, AM Studio, and Tuscany Natural Stone & Quartz.

And perhaps most of all, he’s thankful for his team. From accountants to project managers to designers to tradespeople, each played an important role in bringing the booth to life. “Without them, it would have been impossible to get this award,” Taba says. “So at the end, it is not just an award for me. It’s an award for OE—for all the people who are working in my company and who are in my team.”

Another crucial part of that team is his wife, with whom he works side by side. “To my wife, Ellie: thank you for your unwavering support and for being by my side every step of the way, both in life and in work,” he says. “It has meant everything to me and I will forever be grateful."