The first edition of the SOUK took place within the walls of the Société des arts technologiques (SAT) in 2003 — an experimental playground where imagination met possibility. The air was charged with the excitement of a new generation looking to find a place to express their creativity and new ideas; friends, family, and strangers gathered in a warm, improvised setting that radiated curiosity. No one could have foreseen that this spontaneous gathering would spark a creative movement that would redefine Montreal’s design culture.
Over the following years, the SAT became home to the SOUK — a living laboratory where community and creativity intertwined. For fifteen editions, it nurtured encounters between designers and visitors, between objects and stories. It was here that the essence of the SOUK took root: authentic exchanges, fearless experimentation, and an inclusive vision of design.
When the SOUK moved to the RCA Building in 2019 for its 16th edition where we were hosted by Allied Properties, it carried this spirit into a new chapter. The raw, industrial architecture of the Saint-Henri landmark echoed the city’s creative resurgence. The move marked a turning point — proof that SOUK could adapt, explore, and expand while preserving its essence. From there, the SOUK’s journey became deliberately nomadic, exploring the evolving geography of Montreal’s creativity and adding layers of experiences to its Design fair.
In 2021 for its 18th edition, PVM offered a completely different stage — luminous, architectural, elevated. Between the Mezzanine, which for the first time was accessible to the public, and the 20th-floor SOUK Habitat (an experiential space launched during the pandemic), design and experience merged. The city’s modernist icon, inaugurated in 1962 and designed by the renowned architects Ieoh Ming Pei and Henry N. Cobb, transformed into a home for conversation, experimentation, and reflection. Hosted by Ivanhoé Cambridge, PVM’s grandeur reflected the maturity of a platform that had grown into a cultural force.
Then came Mile-Ex in 2023 for the 19th edition, a creative enclave where innovation and heritage converge, now known as the architects’ district. Hosted by Montoni Group, and in collaboration with Sid Lee Architecture, SOUK revitalized an old textile factory into a meeting ground for the next generation of makers. It was both a return to raw authenticity and a glimpse of the future — the perfect metaphor for SOUK’s continued evolution.
Two decades later, this journey through spaces and neighbourhoods reveals more than an address book of venues — it maps a city in transformation, one where the SOUK has continuously contributed to the revitalization of beloved districts and flourishing boroughs. Each location, partnership, and community encounter tells a story of reinvention, resilience, and belonging — often bringing light back to overlooked enclaves of Montreal and giving them a renewed creative pulse. Through every move, SOUK has shown that design is not just about what we create, but about where we come together to create it.
