ABOUT
Drawing for Food
Drawing for Food leverages the power of architectural drawing and spatial illustration to advocate for the needs of our most vulnerable community members. The auction uses a model tested by the UK-based organization, “Architecture for Change,” that solicits drawings from designers and architects for auction in support of social causes. 100% of the proceeds from this auction will go to an organization in Toronto to help maintain the supply of food and goods to community members experiencing homelessness, precarious housing, and food shortage.
Since the pandemic, homelessness in Toronto has become more visible, but there is also a lot of invisible homelessness and food precarity. Many architecture studio briefs have taken on themes such as affordable housing. However, this project aims to leverage our architectural work to help vulnerable community members more directly.
A broader aim of this auction project is to explore ways that architectural drawings can be used for public good. Realizing spatial projects of any scale typically relies on a financial backer: an owner, a client, an entity with a commercial interest, etc. The interests of the moneyed participant drive, or at least influence, the interests of the spatial project. But the instrument of drawing, we argue, is entirely ours. It belongs to us, and as designers, we can decide what and how we draw, who we draw for, and who benefits from our work.
Thank you to all of our supporters. Drawing for Food has raised over $10,000. We are looking forward to rerunning the auction a third time this year!
How It Works
Drawings donated by an international roster of participants will be posted on the auction website.
The auction of architectural drawings, illustrations, and prints will be public on November 19, 2025. You can check out donors from 2023 and 2024 here!
The auction will go live on November 26, 2025 (midnight EST) and end on December 5, 2025 (11:59 p.m. EST).
All drawings will be given the same starting price ($100 CAD).
Buyers will bid on the auction website.
The top bidders will be contacted via email on December 6th and asked to donate their bid amount directly to the organization using an online donation portal. Credit cards, Google Pay, and PayPal are all accepted!
Donors will ship the drawing to the buyer.
Drawing for Food will act as a go-between, verifying that the bid has been donated so that a tax receipt can be issued, addressing any bidder questions, and hosting the auction site.
The site will remain live, and the hope is to continue adding to the collection of drawings with a new auction each year to generate funds.
SHIPPING
Drawing donors are from all over the world, but some drawings have already been sent by donors to the fundraiser organizers in the US or Canada. Where this is the case, there’s a note under the drawing details on the website.
The logistics of postal delivery have recently become more complex due to the cancellation of the de minimis exemption in the US and the subsequent stoppage of parcels entering the US from some countries. Simultaneously, Canada Post is currently on strike (this note is subject to updates), and mail is not being delivered in Canada.
Please understand that the fundraiser organizers can’t cover the cost of using a courier service to send drawings. Still, we will make every effort to ensure you receive your drawing, either directly from the drawing donor, wherever they are, or from us, the fundraiser organizers. It may just take a little extra time and logistical creativity.
Highest bidders are welcome to pay to have their drawing/print sent by courier.
How to Bid
On November 26th, the site will allow interested bidders to input bids.
Bids will start at $100 (CAD). Please bid in $10 increments.
We request that only serious and intentional bids be made. If you are the winning bidder, you will be asked to donate that amount.
Bids can be input at any time during the week, and the bidding history will be visible (so you can track whether you’ve been outbid!).
Please refresh the page before submitting a bid to see the most recent bid before submitting your own.
Bidding will be disabled on December 5th at 11:59 p.m. EST, and the auction will end.
We’ll contact the top bidder the next day to help facilitate your donation directly to Seeds of Hope for Toronto Food Not Bombs. Seeds of Hope issues tax receipts for donations. Please see our How to Donate page for more.
Once you share your donation receipt with us, we’ll pass your mailing address to the drawing donor, and your drawing will be posted directly to you.
The bidding box to the right will be used to input bids.
It will appear on each drawing page on November 26th and be removed on December 5th.
Drawing Donors
2025
127af, France
adèle labo, Belgium
Alessandro Guerriero, Italy
Anna Bach, Spain
Atelier Local, Portugal
cryptic.k, Romania
Curtis Roth, US
Franciszek Orlowski, Poland
Lisa Cristinzo, Canada
Jérémie Dussault-Lefebvre w/ Sébastien Roy, Canada
Noël Picaper / onomiau, France
Pezo von Ellrichshausen, Chile
Tasnim Eshraqi, UK
Theo de Meyer, Belgium
wurzelsieben:√7, Germany
2024
Álvaro Siza Vieira, Portugal
Andrew Kovacs, US
Bonell+Dòriga, Spain
Doris Thut, Germany
Hadi Madwar, Canada
Jean-Benoît Vétillard, France
Kemetic Blue, Egypt/France
Nicholas Tilma, US
Outpost Office, US
Raymond Biesinger, Canada
Ryan Tyler Martinez, US
Studio Abirascid Hemlin, Sweden
Valerie Marshall, Finland/Canada
2023
Alice Hwang (with Double Happiness), US
BÜROS FÜR KONSTRUKTIVISMUS, Germany
DAVIDSON RAFAILIDIS, Canada
Drawing Architecture Studio, China
Eira Roberts, Canada
Fala Atelier, Portugal
Hüma Sahin, US
Ja Architecture Studio, Canada
Kemetic Blue, Egypt/France
Liang-Jung Chen, UK
Max Otto Zitzelsberger, Germany
Nathalie Du Pasquier, Italy
Nigel Peake, UK
Nuno Melo Sousa, Portugal
Office of Adrian Phiffer, Canada
operadora./Edgar Rodriguez, Mexico/US
Peter Märkli, Switzerland
Pfaueninsel, Czech Republic/UK
Robert Rusch, US
salazarsequeromedina, Spain/US
studioser, Switzerland
Thomas Sindicas, France
Tiantian Lou, US
Tom Ngo, Canada
ULTRAMODERNE, US
UN1ON, France
Young & Ayata, US
Team
Stephanie Davidson and Georg Rafailidis work as DAVIDSON RAFAILIDIS and they teach at the Knowlton School, Ohio State University.
Eira Roberts holds a Bachelor of Interior Design and is a Master of Architecture candidate at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.
Adrian Phiffer is the founder of the Office of Adrian Phiffer and teaches at the University of Toronto.
Claudia Draghia designed the Drawing for Food logo.
Thank you to the donors for their drawings and participation, making the auction possible and rich with drawing diversity.