secrets and lives —
AND THE 7 SINS with DUANE ENSING
F
rom a very young age, architecture was one of Duane Ensing’s passions, but he took a meandering path through visual arts, sculpture and landscape design before integrating house design into his professional life, joining Villamar Design six years ago and launching the design department. “As a kid, I used to draw houses and build homes with Lego,” he says. “And I’ve always been interested in the arts. I painted, explored creative expression and played music as a kid, and my mom was an artist and creator.” Duane, who moved to Victoria from Vancouver with his family in 1985, achieved an honours degree in visual arts at UVic, focusing on drawing, photography and sculpture, before entering into a career as a landscape designer. “I did landscape design for a very long time, and I knew some of the people who worked [at Villamar],” he says. When Villimar offered him a job, he decided to make the change. “I started with project management, and when working there, I thought, you know, we need a design firm here.” Duane quickly helped establish an in-house design department, which grew rapidly into a small team of talented people and gave Duane the space to flex his creative muscles in a new way.
WORDS ANGELA COWAN
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boulevardmagazines.com |
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021
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PHOTOGRAPHY LIA CROWE