|
Symbolic Public Form & the Library Art Gallery of Ontario |
||
TORONTORIUM/ COMMUNI-CAVE Toronto, the world’s second most multicultural city, is often accused of existing without Identity. Many Torontonians would argue this notion, stating that it is in fact the extreme diversity of cultures within city that offers Toronto a unique identity. This unique Identity is an assemblage of multiple beliefs, creating a ‘heterogeneous whole’. The ability to embrace dialectic notions was the chief concern of the Torontorium proposal. Local community members called for a scheme that was simultaneously Iconic while satisfying the local needs of the surrounding neighborhoods. Further, as a public building, the programmatic proposal was determined to accommodate local, city and international goals. Finally, it was agreed that the building must stand for Toronto’s rich history while projecting into the future. Within these seemingly contradictory objectives, we propose a building comprised of solids and voids that link and separate divergent programmes. First, we start with a solid ‘rock’ to delineate and enclose these extremes while allowing them to interact. Then, we carve into this ‘rock’ to create a new public landscape; one that is able to stitch the various circulation paths (pedestrian, bike, boardwalks), community neighborhoods and parks to the West, and City to the East. Within this ‘communi-cave’ a mixing of divergent groups and interests emerge, a true symbol of Toronto. The communi-cave is a fissure that originates in two locations – the Portland slip to the East (Civic fracture) and the Norway Park to the West (Community fracture). This is in fact the root of the project, stitching two scales of programmes and users and collecting and distributing them in a communal space, which allows each to function independently. By placing them in close proximity, however, it engages these dialectic functions in a symbiotic relationship. For instance, community members who come to the Torontorium for a workshop may find themselves engaging in a lecture in one of the civic lecture halls. Conversely, tourists visiting galleries are able to activate local businesses. These two scales of programme are arranged sectionally – community programmes in the lower section, a communal space in the middle (communi-cave) and civic programmes gracing the skyline. We suggest new community programmes such as local retail, cafes, workshop spaces, swimming pools, and theatres. These programmes are inserted below the Communi-Cave, adjacent to the neighborhood park. Above the Communi-cave we proposal a whole new set of interactive programmes that activate the waterfront and bring business to the surrounding neighborhoods, such as large theatres, libraries, galleries, observation platforms, and restaurants. The Toronto Museum Project begins in the public landscape of the cave and pushes upwards towards the civic volume that provides an Iconic Identity to the project and city. This tension between unity and difference embodied in the Torontorium provides a new image for the city that embraces and offers form to Toronto’s unique Identity.
|
||