Michael Fohring

Michael Fohring is a co-founder of Odami, a Toronto-based design studio. The studio’s work ranges from architectural design to interiors, furniture, and small objects, and has won local and international awards, including the Designlines Designer of the Year, an AN Interior Award, and a Canadian Interiors Award. Through challenging the conventions of typology and traditional building techniques, the studio’s focus is to produce work which is highly contextual and well-crafted, yet playful and unexpected. Prior to starting Odami, Michael worked in architectural offices in Montreal, Toronto, and Austria.

In addition to the work of the studio, Michael has maintained a regular role as a sessional instructor since 2017, teaching at both the University of Waterloo School of Architecture and the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Interior Design.

Michael completed his B.Sc.Arch and M.Arch degrees at McGill University in Montreal, where he was named to the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Honour Roll, and was awarded the AIA Henry Adams Medal and the RAIC Student Medal. Michael was also named amongst 30 international designers under 30 in 2018, awarded by the New York City-based One Club for Creativity.

• INT. Design Grands Prix du Design - Gold Certification - Commercial Space , 2023
• INT. Design Grands Prix du Design - Gold Certification - Special Awards: Interior Design + Materials, 2023
• Azure AZ Awards Award of Merit: Commercial and Institutional Interiors, 2023
• ARchDaily - Building of the Year: Interior Architecture Nominee, 2023
• Designlines Designer of the Year / Awarded by Designlines Magazine / 2022
• Best of Canada - Retail/ Awarded by Canadian Interiors Magazine / Aesop Yorkville, 2022
• Best of Design - Interior Retail/ Awarded by The Architect’s Newspaper-AN Interior / Aesop Yorkville, 2022
• Top 10 of 2022: The Year’s Best Interiors / Named by Azure Magazine / Aesop Yorkville, 2022
• Best of 2022 / Named by Archello / Aesop Yorkville, 2022
• Best of Year Finalist - Small Retail / Awarded by Interior Design Magazine / Aesop Yorkville, 2022
• Dezeen Awards Shortlist - Small Retail Interior / Awarded by Dezeen / Aesop Yorkville, 2022
• Gold Certification - Residential Space 1,600-5,400sq.ft. / Awarded by INT. Design Grands Prix du Design / Deer Park House, 2022
• Silver Certification - Special Awards: Renovation (Before & After) / Awarded by INT. Design Grands Prix du Design / Deer Park House, 2022
• A+ Awards Finalist - Residential Interior (
• Surface Interiors Shortlist / Awarded by Restaurant & Bar Design Awards / Sara Restaurant, 2019
• Young Guns Class of 2018 / Awarded by One Club for Creativity in New York City to 30 creative professionals 30 and under / 2018
• RAIC Student Medal / McGill University and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada / 2016
• RAIC Honour Roll / McGill University and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada / 2016
• AIA Henry Adams Medal / McGill University and the American Institute of Architects / 2016
• A.F. Dunlop Traveling Scholarship / McGill University to fund research abroad / 2016
• Canadian Architect Student Excellence Award Nominee / McGill University / 2016
• Dr. Soo Kim Lan Prize / McGill University / 2015

• Designlines, Designer of the Year 2022: Odami’s Rise to the Top, print and online, 11.2022
• The Healthy Indoors: New Challenges, New Designs, Frame Publishers, print, 11.2022
• AN Interior, Deep Purple: An Aesop store by Odami offeres a chance to repurpose local materials and histories, print and online, 11.2022
• Nuvo Magazine, Toronto’s Stunning New Aesop Location Boasts Contemporary and Victorian Charm, online, 10.2022
• ArchDaily, Aesop Store Yorkville/Odami, online, 09.2022
• Azure, Aesop’s New Yorkville Store Embodies the Neighbourhood’s Historic Charm, print and online, 09.2022
• Dezeen, Victorian balusters pattern surfaces at Aesop Yorkville store by Odami, online, 09.2022
• Frame Magazine, Organized like a public square, Aesop’s latest Toronto store becomes one with its neighbourhood, online, 09.2022
• Designlines, A Deer Park Home Gets Dressed to the Nines, online, 09.2022
• Nuvo Magazine, The Flowing Levels of Odami’s Beaches House, online, 06.2022