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Homeward Unbound

By Dory Carr Harris

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Summer is a time to get intimate with the gritty streets of our little borough, and this is exactly what industrial design students from OCAD have set out to do in their exhibit TORONTO UNBOUND. Together with the design school and the City of Toronto, OpenCity Projects has put together a creative lab to come up with design ideas for Toronto’s neighbourhoods, to help foster communication between the members of that specific community and to make those spaces more accessible for other city dwellers.
In order to achieve this mighty task, the students immersed themselves in their chosen neighbourhood doing extensive research into its history, and interviewing residents and business owners. “This partnership between OCAD, OpenCity Projects, and the City is helping to make Toronto a truly livable space,” said David Miller. A task, you could argue, he has yet to achieve.
The top 22 designs of 80 will be on display at XPACE, and this Thursday a jury made up of members representing each of the three partners will select five designs that will be implemented in their chosen neighbourhoods, like the Red Carpet (by Vincent Monestero, pictured above) that seeks to welcome inhabitants and visitors into the up-and-coming neighbourhoods on the Dufferin TTC routes, and connect them with the artistic community in West Queen West and Parkdale.
The announcement of the winning designs takes place this Thursday July 19 at XPACE (58 Ossington Avenue) from 7–10 p.m., and the exhibit runs from June 19–28.
See more of the entries after the fold.


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Corktown Nightscapes (Kaveri Joseph) will add to the art market feel of the place, and by using reflective paint create a brighter and safer atmosphere for after-dark strolls.
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Ambient Pigeon Lighting (Carla Gould) placed under your favourite bridge.
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The Regent Park Market (Matthew Gubernat) would act as a testament to the soon-to-be-demolished piece of Toronto history.
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The Swing Patio (Aidin Khoylou) would appear on the North-East side of Carlton and Parliament and act as a place for people of different cultures and social backgrounds to rest, relax, and connect with each other.
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The Wind Wall (Laura Henneberry) hopes to provide a physical connection between the West Queen West and Parkdale neighbourhoods after the Dufferin “jog” is removed.
Images courtesy of Ontario College of Art and Design

Comments

  • PickleToes

    Artistic merits aside (I’m sure it’s fine in that regard), this seems like another venture the cash strapped City of Toronto really has no business funding.

  • redleaf

    oh I dunno pickletoes, “help foster communication between the members of that specific community and to make those spaces more accessible for other city dwellers” seems like a reasonable use of funds to me.
    The areas they seem to be targetting are the ones where increasing accessibility could have a great effect. But then, I’m an eternal optimist ;-)

  • andrew

    I don’t see how wind wall will foster communication…it looks pretty, and it’s a nice idea, but that bridge and the soot from cars and falling from the trains turns anything colourful underneath it into a grey mush really fast.

  • Threnody

    Everybody stop complaining. If your moaning keeps me from getting a swing patio installed two blocks from my house I’m going to be SO PISSED.

  • x_the_x

    It seems to me like this is just more City pork to secure the pigeon vote.
    More seriously, the swing set would be bareable if its goal wasn’t stated in such hifalutin terms.

  • Skippy the Magical Racegoat

    “The Swing Patio (Aidin Khoylou) would appear on the North-East side of Carlton and Parliament and act as a place for people of different cultures and social backgrounds to rest, relax, and connect with each other.”
    Nice idea, but does anyone honestly believe this kind of thing ever happens in reality? Or just art students?

  • Adam Sobolak

    The problem I have is that these
    “design ideas for Toronto’s lower-income neighbourhoods, to help foster communication between the members of that specific community and to make those spaces more accessible for other city dwellers”
    …are all in the same trendy downtownish sphere. (At least, the ones presently illustrated.)
    Now, if there’s any bold schemes for Thistletown, Malvern, et al, then I’ll feel less of that signal-to-noise void…

  • Dory Carr-Harris

    newsflash: i was misinformed. the projects target all of toronto’s many neighbourhoods, rather than singling out the lower-income ones specifically. so it’s not the faux benevolence you all thought it was.
    apologies. the article has been changed to reflect this fact.

  • Svend

    Artists to the rescue, lol.
    A package labeled “This is not a bomb” would do just as much to foster communication in these neighbourhoods as this crap.

  • jeeves

    “when the Dufferin jog is removed”? and how are they proposing to do this?

  • andrew

    The City has been planning the removal of the Dufferin jog for years. It’s already started, with the clearing of the building and lands just north of Queen. I think the end date might be this year, but then again the City has been talking about doing this for thirty years or so [and apparently Parkdalians have been talking about this pretty much since the bridge was built].