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Following the success of Toronto's inaugural Winter Stations Design Competition, organizers RAW Design, Ferris + Associates, and Curio have announced that the 2016 event has drawn nearly twice as many submissions, with a total of 378 applications received from around the world. Bringing a collection of art installations to the frigid winter waterfront—at Balmy, Kew, and Ashbridges Bay Beaches—the event enlivens Toronto's beaches with warmth and cultural vibrancy.
The winning submissions will be on display from February 13th until March 20th, 2016. The project sees artists, architects and designers from around the world re-purpose some of Toronto's lifeguard stations into temporary art displays, bringing an eclectic collage of colours, styles, and visitors to a waterfront that often becomes dispiritingly empty in the depths of winter.
This year's theme for the competition is Freeze/Thaw, with applicants asked to "respond to the changing climactic conditions and transitions of the Toronto winter." According to Ferris + Associates' Ted Merrick, the "hope is that the creativity and playfulness in the selected designs will draw people outdoors and inspire people to look at the spaces around us from different perspectives."
Winter Stations aims to bring the "hibernating" lifeguard stations into lively and inviting hubs of art and culture. Four of the installations will be created by students, with teams headed up by Ryerson University's Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, OCAD University's School of Environmental Design, and Laurentian University's Faculty of Science, Engineering and Architecture.
Up to 10 proposals from the 378 submissions will also be selected to design the remaining installations at lifeguard stands across the waterfront. To help expand the number of winning entries, an Indiegogo campaign has been launched to raise an additional $18,000 for the project.
For additional information about the competition, go to www.winterstations.com. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment using the space provided at the bottom of this page.
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Winter Stations sponsors for 2016 include the Ontario Association of Architects, Great Gulf, Diamante Developments, Demirov Fine Homes, The Rockport Group, Fieldgate Homes, Urban Capital, as well as the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects, the Design Exchange, and the City of Toronto.
