NOURISH
In the spirit of June Callwood and her extraordinary legacy of providing healing spaces for those in need, NOURISH will be a park that will ensure the health and vitality of Fort York and feed the soul of its community.
NOURISH will be a respite from urban stress, promoting wellbeing and connectedness for the citizens of Toronto. In a brand new neighbourhood, NOURISH will define for thousands of residents how they interact with their neighbours, the built environment, and green space in their city.
June Callwood Park will be founded on June's beliefs: a peaceful place where no one is excluded – where people of all ages can learn, be challenged and enjoy themselves. We propose to create a park that is well used and treasured by the community for its atmosphere and its beauty. We propose a park with a program that promotes social inclusion and engagement, enthusiasm for learning, collaboration, and action. By designing spaces that are comfortable, spatially rich and flexible, inspirational and playful, the park will be the type of place June Callwood would have enjoyed.
(From competitor's text)
The jury was impressed with the unique and innovative urban agriculture notion behind the “nourish” concept and its link to June Callwood's past of working with those in need.
The urban agriculture theme reinterprets the traditional role of urban parkland. The idea of providing opportunities for park users to ‘forage' in the park and take advantage of the various harvestable edible or medicinal plants was a strong design idea. The jury also felt that the nourish concept provided unique educational opportunities for all users but notably also for children.
The jury supported the rise and fall of topography articulated in the scheme and the energy and constant animation created by the subtle curving ‘expressway'. Overall connectivity through the park was strong with the various linkages creating numerous smaller rooms and gathering spaces in the park. While the connectivity and access created by the ‘expressway' were positively received, the materiality choice of concrete contrasted sharply with the scheme and there was some concern regarding the expressway's scale relative to the park's area.
The ‘swiss cheese' bridge is a unique and playful element and has great potential but wasn't deeply developed in the submission. While it also provided vantage to the open lawn, which the jury supported, it also bisected this space and reduced its overall effectiveness.
While the ‘nourish' concept provided a unique design strategy, it also raised some concerns regarding the maintenance / stewardship of the urban agricultural species. Plant survivability, given the microclimate created by the site's proximity to the lake and significant shading by surrounding buildings, was not well supported. Unfortunately, consideration of the detrital cycle and seasonal deposition of leaves and fruit etc. were not considered in the design resulting in a high duty of care of the site by the City. The concept offered its greatest benefit in the seasons associated with the growing cycle of the harvestable plants but neglected to explore functionality in the late fall and winter months.
Given the above noted strengths and weaknesses, the jury did not select this submission.
(From jury report)
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