Green Line Ideas Competition (Underpass Solutions) / Concours d'idées Green Line (Solutions pour passages souterrains)
2012
Toronto, Ontario, Canada- Planning
- Urban spaces
- Park
Launched in December 2012 by Workshop Architecture based in Toronto, the Green Line Ideas Competition invites architects, landscape architects, urban planners, artists and community members to contribute to an overall vision for the public use of a 5km long hydro corridor from Davenport Village to the Annex.
With over 75 competition entries, the Green Line Ideas Competition aims to demonstrate the potential of the particular hydro corridor site and also to foster a discussion on public use of similar spaces in North American cities.
Engaging community members in an urban design process, the ideas competition is comprised of two competitions. Competition A asks the competitors to propose a vision for how a piece of infrastructure could be transformed into exemplary public space. The jury was looking for projects that
- Define a comprehensive vision for the Green Line across its varied territory;
- Identify design solutions to the challenge of providing a safe and continuous pedestrian and cycle connection across the full length of the Green Line. Suggestions for tying into Toronto?s cycling network would be welcomed;
- The Green Line should be considered as both a series of community spaces and a physical and psychological link across the city;
- As this corridor runs through neighbourhoods with low provision of park space, competitors are asked to consider how to make the most of the corridor space seven days a week throughout the year;
- Designs are encouraged to be sustainable and to provide a framework for different sections to be implemented over time.
On the other hand, competition B seeks for an improved design for the intersection and railway underpass at Dovercourt Road and Geary Avenue that could be a prototype for the eight underpasses along the Green Line route. Criteria for Competition B are:
- To provide a detailed design to improve pedestrian, cyclist and car-users? safety and mobility;
- To make an improved physical, visual and/or psychological connection for the Green Line;
- To create a design for this location that may also serve as a model for the other eight underpasses along the Green Line (circled in Map B);
- Designs for Competition B should be realistic and implementable. Solutions that can be realized for a modest budget may be preferred.
Ms. Helena Grdadolnik, associate director of Workshop Architecture and the competition organizer, sees the Green Line contest as a way to spark the public?s imagination and persuade the city to develop a master plan to guide future open-space investments. She states: «Imagine our electricity infrastructure as a Green Line; a continuous pedestrian and cycling link across the middle of the city and a public space and recreational amenity to the many neighbourhoods across Toronto that it link».
(CRC text)
With over 75 competition entries, the Green Line Ideas Competition aims to demonstrate the potential of the particular hydro corridor site and also to foster a discussion on public use of similar spaces in North American cities.
Engaging community members in an urban design process, the ideas competition is comprised of two competitions. Competition A asks the competitors to propose a vision for how a piece of infrastructure could be transformed into exemplary public space. The jury was looking for projects that
- Define a comprehensive vision for the Green Line across its varied territory;
- Identify design solutions to the challenge of providing a safe and continuous pedestrian and cycle connection across the full length of the Green Line. Suggestions for tying into Toronto?s cycling network would be welcomed;
- The Green Line should be considered as both a series of community spaces and a physical and psychological link across the city;
- As this corridor runs through neighbourhoods with low provision of park space, competitors are asked to consider how to make the most of the corridor space seven days a week throughout the year;
- Designs are encouraged to be sustainable and to provide a framework for different sections to be implemented over time.
On the other hand, competition B seeks for an improved design for the intersection and railway underpass at Dovercourt Road and Geary Avenue that could be a prototype for the eight underpasses along the Green Line route. Criteria for Competition B are:
- To provide a detailed design to improve pedestrian, cyclist and car-users? safety and mobility;
- To make an improved physical, visual and/or psychological connection for the Green Line;
- To create a design for this location that may also serve as a model for the other eight underpasses along the Green Line (circled in Map B);
- Designs for Competition B should be realistic and implementable. Solutions that can be realized for a modest budget may be preferred.
Ms. Helena Grdadolnik, associate director of Workshop Architecture and the competition organizer, sees the Green Line contest as a way to spark the public?s imagination and persuade the city to develop a master plan to guide future open-space investments. She states: «Imagine our electricity infrastructure as a Green Line; a continuous pedestrian and cycling link across the middle of the city and a public space and recreational amenity to the many neighbourhoods across Toronto that it link».
(CRC text)