Architecture instructor reMAKEs city’s café culture

An instructor in environmental design with the Faculty of Architecture hopes to redesign café culture in Winnipeg.

Award-winning designer Jae-Sung Chon created MAKE Coffee + Stuff as a “crossroads” to bring people and ideas together. The café at 751 Corydon Avenue not only serves specialty coffee but also builds public awareness of design and its uses, and showcases young designers’ work.

Award-winning designer Jae-Sung Chon created MAKE Coffee + Stuff as a “crossroads” to bring people and ideas together.

“I’ve been teaching since 1996, and I know there’s so much young design talent in Winnipeg,” Chon [M.Arch/’95] said during downtime at his busy café.

“Unfortunately, there’s very little opportunity for them to showcase their work until they’re older, but they have so much vibrant energy.”

With MAKE, Chon is providing that opportunity — the café has exhibited student work in industrial design and displayed all 21 volumes of Warehouse, the annual Faculty of Architecture student journal.

On April 11, the white-walled and wood-accented café was filled with observers, and models and drawings were spread around the room as architecture students presented a project on residential towers designed for downtown Toronto as part of a studio review session.

“Basically, a class was relocated here. It was new format — it was actually exhibiting an open-door class where you come in as the public, using coffee as an excuse.”

Jenn Yablonowski, a fourth-year architecture student, presented her project at MAKE. She designed a tower model that would focus on community and house art studios and galleries, as well as create an urban green space using vertical green parks.

“When you’re a student and you’re presenting in class, it’s [insular]. This changed how you think about the audience — I think that’s especially important for design students because we’re designing for the public and the greater community,” said Yablonowski.

“I think the gallery setting was a nice experience because the space is so intimate — the customer can go up to it and explore it.”

The tower models were exhibited until April 13 as part of a pop-up event, and sparked discussion among customers.

The tower models were exhibited until April 13 as part of a pop-up event, and sparked discussion among [café] customers.

“People came through and asked questions like, ‘Is this a new tower coming to Winnipeg?’” said Chon. “That’s an amazing question because it’s an inspiring, engaging question.”

The public received the exhibition very well — although they may have felt a little uncomfortable because there was discussion going on when they came in for coffee.

That’s partly the point, notes Chon.

“Not many places welcome you through the discussion, literally — people were hanging around the talk and listening to students presenting their research work and professors’ critiquing.

“People were intrigued.”

 –Erika Miller, Intern

Jae-Sung Chon.

Jae-Sung Chon teaches environmental design in the Faculty of Architecture. He has taught architecture internationally since 1996, in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Berlin and London. Chon has studied Architecture, Architectural Engineering, Housing, and Urbanism in various contexts. He is currently working on a research-based PhD at University College London (UCL) in affiliation with the department of geography and the Urban Laboratory at UCL.

Jae-Sung led the Migrating Landscapes entry to the Venice Biennale along with 5468796 Architecture Inc. and selected by a national juried competition as Canada’s official entry at the 2012 Venice Biennale in Architecture. Jae-Sung has maintained various forms of design practice since 1995. His works have been recognized in a number of publications including AZURE, DWELL, Canadian Architect and Western Living. He was the founding partner of both DIN Projects and OS1 Architecture/Design. In 2010, Chon initiated STUFF (Studio for Transformative Urban Forms and Fields), an environmental design think-tank, to reflect his interests in the broader engagement of design and trans-disciplinary forms of research & practice.

He opened MAKE / Coffee + Stuff in 2012 to pursue an engagement between the public and profession of design.