Spring Stations comes to Etobicoke’s Sir Casmir Gzowski Park

For the first time ever, the Popular Winter Stations Design Competition expands to Toronto’s West End

Let’s celebrate spring in style! Spring Stations is bringing three winning entries and two student design from a popular art and design contest to Toronto’s Etobicoke neighbourhood for the first time. Coming on the heels of the successful return of Winter Stations to the Beach in February, the 2023 Spring Stations exhibit is being hosted in front of Mirabella Condominiums at Sir Casmir Gzowski Park now until May 5.

The popular outdoor art and design was launched by RAW Design, Ferris + Associates and Curio in 2015. 2023 marked the return to the annual exhibits after rescheduling and location changes due to the pandemic. This will be the first time the all-ages, family friendly, interactive exhibition will include a second showing in Etobicoke with Spring Stations.

“As long-time supporters of Canadian art, I’m thrilled to support Spring Stations coming to our Etobicoke neighbourhood,” said Julie Di Lorenzo, President of Mirabella Development. These five designs perfectly compliment the 395-foot-long Motion in Air mural facing onto the Gardiner and confirm this area as a place to enjoy the natural environment and appreciate art.”

The three winning designs were selected from hundreds of submissions worldwide, including one with a Toronto story. “Conrad”, named for the raccoon who died at Yonge and Church Streets in the summer of 2015, has come alive in a 3-dimensional sculpture to inspire warmth and compassion in this larger-than-life incarnation. The 2023 winners also include Scott Shields Architects’ winning design, the(Home), the same firm behind the Mirabella building’s design. Additionally, two student entries from Toronto Metropolitan University and Guelph University will be relocated to Sir Casmir Gzowski Park. This year’s competition is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Mirabella Condominiums, RAW Design, Sali Tabacchi Branding & Design, and KG&A Inc.

The competition which is aimed at capturing the imagination of designers, artists, and architects to create bold designs that spark conversations will include four exhibited stations and one digital contribution incorporating virtual reality elements. The theme for this year’s competition is Radiance, and designers were asked to celebrate their growth, inner strength, and freedom in defining and showing what Radiance means to them.

“Winter Stations would not be the successful art exhibition it is without the support of the community, City, and sponsors each year, and this year we thank Mirabella, Fengate, and LiUNA for the opportunity to expand our reach to the west end. Toronto is a great and diverse City and we are thrilled to be able to diversify our program,” said RAW Design Architect Dakota Wares-Tani.

Spring Stations will run now through May 5 in Sir Casmir Gzowski Park, Etobicoke (1751 Lakeshore Blvd. West).

The 2023 Spring Stations are:

CONRAD (Novak Djogo & Daniel Joshua Vanderhorst), Canada
Photo credit: Phil Marion

Conrad was the name of a raccoon that died on the corner of Yonge and Church in the summer of 2015. And though Conrad was just a raccoon, he was human enough to inspire compassion and warmth in the hearts of people across the GTA. This is a monument in his honour.

the(Home) by Scott Shields Architects (Yulia Belova, Andrew Shields), Canada
Photo Credit: Phil Marion

With the world moving through major economic and political changes while still recovering from years of pandemic, we imagine the best manifestation of this year’s theme of radiance in a simple definition of “Home”. Home, whether it’s a space or beloved neighbourhood, is a place blessed, where one feels security, strength and freedom thus casting a radiance of inner beauty and potential to the outside world.

Playing with the idea of emitting and transmitting light, we introduce a simple shaped pavilion with carved bright-coloured walls to offer a constantly changing experience throughout day and night. While the dawn light shines through the colorful glass and letters creating a vivid kaleidoscope pattern, dusk brings a completely different experience with the light originating from within and spreading its sculptured glare to the outside. The red lifeguard tower stands in the center of the pavilion, resembling a person residing at homeplace.

With the world moving through major economic and political changes while still recovering from years of pandemic, we imagine the best manifestation of this year’s theme of radiance in a simple definition of “Home”. Home, whether it’s a space or beloved neighbourhood, is a place blessed, where one feels security, strength and freedom thus casting a radiance of inner beauty and potential to the outside world.

Playing with the idea of emitting and transmitting light, we introduce a simple shaped pavilion with carved bright-coloured walls to offer a constantly changing experience throughout day and night. While the dawn light shines through the colorful glass and letters creating a vivid kaleidoscope pattern, dusk brings a completely different experience with the light originating from within and spreading its sculptured glare to the outside. The red lifeguard tower stands in the center of the pavilion, resembling a person residing at homeplace.

LIFE LINE by WeatherstonBruer Associates (James Bruer, Nick Roland, Jacqueline Hampshire), Canada
Photo Credit: Phil Marion

Radiance is a collective experience. The act of emitting and receiving positivity has an impact that reaches far beyond its origin point. LIFE LINE proposes an interactive station that materializes the transfer of joy through a shared, auditory experience.

LIFE LINE references the built infrastructure of the waterfront, the linear landscape of the beach and the distant horizon line. Participants can place a ball at the top of the tube, and send it rolling through a series of windchimes, creating a captivating soundscape for others to enjoy. Listening stations along the length of the tunnel project the sound outward and allow for multiple points of engagement. The experience of LIFE LINE is playful from near and far, and interprets radiance as joy that starts with the one person and radiates outward to many. http://www.weatherstonbruer.com/

Ripple Hut by Cesar Rodriguez Perfetti, Jake Kroft, Breno Gualter, Dean Roumanis, Lead by Associate professor Vincent Hui, Toronto Metropolitan University Department of Architectural Science
Photo credit: Phil Marion

Canoes have been a fundamental method of transportation for thousands of years. They have contributed immensely to humanity’s growth, inner strength, and freedom. Ripple Hut emulates the form of aggregated canoes and offers an alternative approach to the beauty and craft of canoe fabrication. The structural connections of the pavilion depict ripples in the water. Small apertures in the framework of the pavilion will provide framed views of the surrounding context while the composition of the shells will protect visitors from the harsh winter conditions.

Radiance is expressed in the pavilion through form, materiality, and spatial interaction. Ripple Hut will be perceived differently in various contexts through haptics and the effect of light and shadow. The pavilion will serve as a place of convergence for visitors and will invite users to interact with its spatial and material conditions.

WE[AR] by Saina Amin, Craig Klomp, Lauren Mac Isaac, Catherine Yan (Design team), Mahmoud Afshari, Kaveh Eshraghian, Roozbeh Moayyedian (Tech team), Lead by Assistant Professor Afshin Ashari, University of Guelph, School of Environmental Design & Rural Development
Photo credit: Jonathan Sabeniano

Radiance is not dependent on any one item, person, or location; rather, it is contingent on our capacity to come together to realize both our individual and our community’s full potential. When we work together, we produce more energy and more force, and the resultant domino effect is unstoppable.

WE[AR] encourages connection, humanism, and the strength of living in community by demonstrating the power that can be achieved when a community pulls together. WE[AR] is an interactive virtual installation that considers the local and regional contexts in which it is shown to present social issues and it exemplifies the power of unity in the face of societal crises. Whether it is in Canada, the United States, Ukraine, Africa, Iran, Afghanistan or anywhere in the world it demonstrates the strength of solidarity in addressing social challenges. Human rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ2S+ rights, pay disparity, mental health, racial discrimination, and sexual violence are among the issues addressed.

WE[AR] stands for a worldwide movement of solidarity and unity, and it begs us all to shine our own light to these critical societal challenges. It encourages visitors to explore the installation at their own pace, striking up conversations with other visitors and, most importantly, becoming allies to these communities. As more individuals congregate and interact with the exhibit, it leads it to respond and strengthen its look.

Each member of any community, no matter how large or small, benefits from the presence of solidarity because it fosters a sense of shared purpose and responsibility among its members and encourages them to help one another in times of need. A shining example of justice, solidarity, and humanity may be achieved when we act as one.

For more information, please visit www.winterstations.com.