LOVE PARK
A Space of Green with a Pinch of Whimsy
Skylines of sameness are mushrooming around the world. Love Park in Toronto is a deliberate effort to break from the grid and assert an open space character that reinforces Toronto's evolving landscape specificity, while introducing a unique signature that expresses the spirit of the city. A new metropolitan icon to capture the Toronto brand, Love Park will equally fulfill its role as a local park for the diverse mix of residents, workers, visitors and tourists in the burgeoning Waterfront Neighbourhood.
A space of simplicity and grandeur, Love Park will accommodate a myriad of flexible and open-ended uses, responding to continually emerging community needs, while sustaining its own conceptual integrity and personality over time.
The interplay between clearing and tree cover, sun and shade, as well as watching and revealing all combine to make a green oasis of quiet yet stimulating repose. Open-ended possibilities for program across the year can range from passive uses like dog walking, lunch eating, and taking selfies, to more organized happenings like Christmas markets, art fairs, community gatherings, outdoor cinema and shows. This breathing room in the city is qualified by a looseness in layout that promotes freshness and flexibility. Unobstructed sight lines through clearings and trees across the park, to the surrounding towers, as well as the harbour to the south promote safety without imposing an overly rigid structure of occupancy. Comfortable for the body and invigorating for the mind, Love Park will become another urban catalyst, similar to our other Toronto projects - Sugar Beach and Berczy Park - that playfully compel people to give in to their heart's wish to just let themselves feel good.
(From competitor's text)
The Jury found that this proposal was simple, elegant and timeless. Love Park engages the beautiful natural materials and elegant forms of a classic urban park and creates a contemporary and charming design that responds to all the requirements of the brief. The scale of the design fits the scale of the site and creates a beautiful fifth elevation: the park as seen from the surrounding towers. The Jury enjoyed the general scale at the centre which opened a window to the sky, that with its shaded edge will make it appealing in both summer and winter. The classic approach also offers great possibilities for public art in this design that should attract great artists and give them creative scope. The Jury noted that this proposal was preferred by the Stakeholder Advisory Committee, Technical Advisory Committee, and Public alike. The Jury was not convinced that the water feature could successfully double as a plaza and suggested the following qualifications and conditions, which should be taken as advice in the development of the design:
- Animate the water feature with year-round uses (e.g. potential model boating in summer & recreational skating in winter).
- Remove the pavilion to create more space for picnic tables and/or public gatherings. Accommodate mechanical uses above ground with any other interior uses in a smaller structure.
- Consider reducing the size of water element to create more gathering space.
- Add tables and chairs for eating.
- Increase the tree canopy considerably.
- Include sustainability features such as bioswales and integrated stormwater management approaches, and demonstrate the resilience of the park design to flooding.
(From jury report)
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