05
Onesky Park, 229 Richmond St. West.
In collabotation with PMA Landscape Architects (Toronto, CAN), SLA (Copenhagen, DK), Gow Hastings Architects (Toronto, CAN), and TÀMMARO ART/Design.
Rendering by Norm Li.
Onesky Park is the culmination of these
knowledges inhabited by all;
land and sky, water
and wind; clear and purposeful.
The design of a new park at 229 Richmond
St. West in Downtown Toronto, ON (Canada) brings forth the challenge of conceiving
a park space for an area in flux. With its
downtown mid-block location, the space is close
to active streets and significant attractions,
but it is also in the midst of a neighbourhood
undergoing major change. Significant new
building developments are planned or being
built on virtually every block, including two slated
for construction right alongside the park, which
contributes to issues of noise, shade, and air
quality, and puts new pressures on existing
green spaces.
At an abstract level these changes are an
expected part of a large growing city’s trajectory.
At a human level, they present day-to-day
challenges to those in the community seeking
safe, engaging outdoor space and exposure to
nature. In such an environment of flux;
How is equilibrium restored?
Where is the common ground?
What unites us?
How is equilibrium restored?
Where is the common ground?
What unites us?
One sky, one heartbeat of Mother Eartone place of
connection between city inhabitants and our kin in the Natural
World.- words by Catherine Tammaro, Indigenous artist and Design advis
The sky is something we all share.
The sky is ever-present,
no matter the changes to our material world,
and in this sense, it represents our common
experience.
Indigenous and Ecological Heritage as Inspiration. The Wyandot word for Toronto; ‘tǫrǫtǫʔ’, is defined as plenty. The area’s natural beauty contained abundanresources. Indigenous Peoples would gather to meet to trade, negotiate and hold ceremony, celebrating their lifeways and honouring their traditions and protocols. The colonial presence displaced existing lifeways with the contemporary urban order, which buried natural watercourses and interrupted Indigenous knowledges and ways of being in relationship with the Natural World. This green to gray conversion has brought much in the way of people, buildings and capital however it has laid bare the lack of life enhancing outdoor spaces which invite, engage and and restore; that exist on their own merit as heart-rest and spiritual nourishment for the urbanised human.
A Reflection of the Neighbourhood - Architectural Heritage Celebration. The community is an established entertainment district and a densifying residential neighbourhood. This character is underscored by th juxtaposition of its brick heritage buildings with newer structures that speak to city core’s identity as a modern metropolis with layered history. This is the identity of the park site. The Park design can respond to this through interpretive public art, unique materials and dynamic planting that add to the cultural and historic layers by reminding users of human and natural patterns all but forgotten. The goal is that through this ecological restoration of the park that the Park design would also inherently and intuitivel preserve and amplify the significance of the contextual architectural heritage.
Onesky Park sees this unique potential to be a place that helps mend the frayed fabric of our diverse city by offering to restore the site as a space of spirit and reflection, where connections between all living things can manifest: to return
the site to again becoming plenty.
CIRCULATION. An active transportation and transit connectivity that facilitate the needs of pedestrians and cyclists; GREEN CONNECTION. To bridge the gap between the open green spaces of the North and South by the lakeshore; BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREAS (BIA): A central hub for entertainment, arts, culture, hospitality, sports, nightlife and business; ARTS & CULTURE. The city’s key cultural facilities with public art installation highlighted.
Press: World Landscape Architects (WLA). (2023, October 16). Shortlisted designs revealed for a new park at 229 Richmond Street West; BlogTO. (2023, October 11). Toronto is getting a brand new park and the designs are stunning; Canadian Architect. (2023, October 27). City of Toronto unveils finalist designs for new downtown park
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