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Today, Waterfront Toronto officially unveiled Unfinished Arch, a new interactive public artwork at Sherbourne Common in Toronto's East Bayfront. Created by Montréal-based Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, the installation is his first permanent public artwork in Canada and serves as the destination piece as part of the East Bayfront Master Public Art Plan. The launch drew community members, project partners, Waterfront Toronto representatives, and Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik to celebrate the completion of the long-anticipated work.
Rising 9m above the south lawn of Sherbourne Common and spanning 14m across, the stainless steel sculpture takes the form of a deliberately incomplete arch with one end suspended above the ground. Visitors are invited to touch the unfinished edge, activating sensors that illuminate the structure while contact is maintained.
While the sculpture appears to balance precariously above, its elegant cladding conceals a substantial feat of engineering within; the 25,000-pound stainless steel structure is anchored roughly 50 feet into the ground. Fabricated and installed by Toronto-based Eventscape, the suspended end incorporates multiple touch points for visitors of different heights and abilities, while pressure and microwave sensors trigger illumination and sound.
Speaking at the unveiling, Lozano-Hemmer explained that the sculpture's instability was essential to its concept. “I made this artwork teetering. I made it so that it was unstable… The spirit of participation is the idea that your presence will complete the arch,” he said. Visitors can feel slight movement through the structure as they press against the suspended end, temporarily completing the unfinished form.
The installation reflects themes that have long defined Lozano-Hemmer's practice, which frequently combines technology, architecture, and public participation. “I always say that my work is based on two concepts: Concept one, it has to be incomplete. Concept two is it needs to be out of control,” he said. Rather than presenting a finished monument to be viewed from a distance, Unfinished Arch depends on visitors to activate its lighting, sound, and physical presence.
Lozano-Hemmer said the project began with an exploration of the symbolic history of arches, from triumphal monuments to modernist expressions of technological progress. Drawing inspiration from both the participatory behaviour associated with the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the sweeping forms of mid-century arch structures, he developed a work that deliberately interrupts the familiar shape. He described it as “an artwork that is a monument to the failure of modernity, the failure of that utopian promise of techno optimism.”
Unfinished Arch forms part of Waterfront Toronto's East Bayfront Master Public Art Plan. The project emerged from an international competition that attracted more than 80 submissions before Lozano-Hemmer and his Montréal-based studio were selected in 2024. The installation was funded through a model that pools public art contributions from surrounding developments.
“Public art does something that other city-building functions can't manage to do. It asks nothing of you except for your presence, and to stop for a moment. The Unfinished Arch is exactly that,” said Waterfront Toronto President and CEO George Zegarac. He described cultural investments as an important ingredient in creating places people actively use and identify with.
Expanding on that theme, Zegarac referenced the urban planning concept of the “third place”: “It’s not home, it's not work, but it's the place in between… the great cities and neighbourhoods are built on third places where a community actually happens, not by design exactly, but by invitation,” he said.
Malik connected the installation to the goals of waterfront revitalization, describing public spaces as essential components of complete communities. She noted that East Bayfront's transformation has been guided by the objective of creating neighbourhoods where residents can live, work, learn, and gather, supported by accessible parks, public amenities, and cultural destinations.
“Great places to live and work and visit are always anchored by those pieces that make us curious, that invite us to think a little bit deeper, but most of all, to participate in a new and different way,” Malik said, pointing to the artwork's interactive design.
That participatory quality was a recurring theme throughout the morning's remarks. “It comes alive. It literally lights up with our participation and with our presence,” Malik said. Following the unveiling, attendees gathered around the installation to activate the lighting system and experience firsthand the interaction at the centre of the artwork's design.
You can learn more about Sherbourne Common from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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