The Innovators in Residence program - piloted this year by the Design Exchange - is an incubation program exploring the sector of social entrepreneurship and social innovation. The goal of the program is to find the intersection and work within the walls of these cultural institutions to create dynamic relationships, collaboration and project opportunities that will adequately celebrate both the institution and the innovator.
The Innovator in Residence will focus on ensuring that the brightest and most innovative ideas are being born and housed within the walls of these institutions and therefore capitalizing on Toronto’s intellectual capital and mobilizing its potential. The program encourages its innovator to utilize institutional capacity while creating a symbiotic relationship where the institution dedicates resources to allowing the Innovator to navigate a traditional institution to bring in new and unconventional ideas, projects, and ideation. The host institution provides opportunities to pursue projects that will leverage the resources of the institution to promote their social venture while at the same time raising the profile of the institution itself to a new community of patrons and visitors.
Design Exchange has embarked on the pilot program to host archiTEXT – an architecture and innovation think tank and incubator – exploring how architecture intersects with every part of our lives. Building on the equation of “Architecture + ___________” and with each intersection, using the mediums of: film, publishing, contemporary art, rapid idea generation, charrettes, public policy, education, and building projects to explore it – archiTEXT engages a broad demographic in design and its ability to mobilize and generate change.
