Canoa: An All-in-One Program for Furniture Specification

When it comes to selecting furnishings, going from inspiration to specification is hard. Enter Canoa, a collaborative software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to make the heavily manual process easier.

Canoa not only helps designers create data-rich mood boards, furniture layouts, and product schedules in-browser and in one place, but it also allows them to share the results with peers and clients. Its search and discovery features mean users can identify products from images, find options using select terms, and connect to real-time data about an item’s availability.

Federico Negro founded Canoa in 2019 after serving as the Global Head of Design for co-working juggernaut WeWork. During his four-year tenure—in which WeWork expanded into more than 500 locations in 30 countries—Negro experienced the end-to-end challenges businesses and design teams face when dealing with the fixtures, furniture, and equipment (FF&E) industry. Particularly, he says, how “data silos and workflow discontinuity lead designers to waste time and money and generate real-world waste.”

As he explains: “The average designer may use as many as 6-8 separate technologies to do everyday tasks. Access to the right data, at the right time, can take weeks and be fraught with errors. Building an online collaborative design tool that could bring this data to designers was clearly the place to start.”

He calls Canoa’s AI feature a “co-pilot” for interior designers, with the recommendations it generates improving as more product data is loaded onto the platform. Catalogs containing this product can be either public or private; over 200 brands already offer their items for all to see.

As for the sustainability piece, Negro says that information is key to making it easier to spec environmentally friendly pieces. If designers have access to live product data and a greater range of options at the start of their process, they will “choose healthier and more sustainable options for their projects.”

Those attending the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) will have a chance to learn about Canoa and its process first-hand. Located in the WANTED section of the show floor, Look Book Lounge x Canoa, presented with media partner Dezeen, will feature daily conversations dedicated to exploring design throughout all its phases. The lounge’s interactive scenography will stoke curiosity about the step-by-step journey designers take, while the furnishings—by Canoa brand partners Hem, Normann Copenhagen, Nodi Rugs, and Heartwork, among others—will demonstrate ways to execute a design inspiration.

Negro also wants to use the time at ICFF to discuss how Canoa will not eliminate the role of designers.

“Architects and interior designers make much of their living by breathing new life into existing buildings…with masterful control of color, texture, and lighting,” he says. “This work will not be changed with Canoa. What will change is how we do it. We see technology in its broadest sense, and AI in this context, as tools that can help these professionals advance their mission.”

Canoa CEO Federico Negro will join several industry insiders, as well as Dezeen’s U.S. editor Ben Dreith, for the panel “The New Design Habit,” which will happen Sunday, May 19, at 12pm in the Look Book Lounge x Canoa. Dezeen will host a Community Conversation in the lounge Monday, May 20, and Tuesday, May 21, each at 12pm. See here for more info.