Saint-Mark's Coptic Canadian Village / Village copte canadien de Saint-Mark
2003
Markham, Ontario, Canada- Religious structures
- Building
- Christian religious buildings
The Coptic community has survived since its origins in Egypt in mid first Century AD. The Copts are the descendants of the ancient Egyptians with a history dated back to the times of the Pharaohs. They were converted to Christianity by St. Mark the apostle and played a prominent role in the formation of the early Christian doctrine. In Canada, the Coptic community is flourishing and now there are more than 160,000 parishioners in some 10 congregations in the Greater Toronto Area.
St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church, Toronto, is the first Coptic Church in North America, and is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
To meet the increasing needs of its congregation, the majority of which live in The Town of Markham, a site in a strategic location in Markham was chosen comprising 12.1 acres at Steeles Avenue and Ferrier Street for an ambitious multimillion dollar undertaking.
The Project is the subject of an International Design Competition and includes a Cathedral, a Community Centre, an Academic School, Daycare, Seniors Apartments, a Bishop's Residence, a Retirement and Nursing Home and an Office Building. World-renowned Urban Planners, Architects and Landscape Architects from 26 countries have registered to submit master-plan proposals for the St. Mark's Coptic Canadian Village resulting in 63 Submissions.
Three winning plans will be chosen and the design teams will receive their awards as follows: First prize is $60,000, second is $35,000 and third is $25,000.
The Advisor to the Competition is one of Canada's premier Urban Designers, the Toronto based Roger du Toit, Architect, Planer and Landscape Architect, CM, FCSLA, FASLA, BCSLA. "The concept has ignited the design profession's imagination," said du Toit. "It is a rare opportunity to plan a project of interrelated community and religious buildings and outdoor spaces around a Cathedral. We are going back to the roots of religious building, seeing the church as the center of the community."
The Complex of religious and community facilities will be a place where Egyptian-Coptic Architecture is reborn in 21st Century expression. The Project is to be a composition of state-of-the-art designs that form harmonious interrelated buildings. The Cathedral will be the centerpiece and a landmark at the entrances of the Town of Markham and the City of Toronto.
The vision includes spaces of peace, serenity, beauty, a symphony of shape, texture and colour expressing the religious concepts of the Christian Coptic Orthodox faith, tradition and spiritual values. The congregation hopes the Cathedral will embody a sublime expression of their faith, traditions and spiritual values in a contemporary architectural vocabulary.
(From competition program)
St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church, Toronto, is the first Coptic Church in North America, and is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
To meet the increasing needs of its congregation, the majority of which live in The Town of Markham, a site in a strategic location in Markham was chosen comprising 12.1 acres at Steeles Avenue and Ferrier Street for an ambitious multimillion dollar undertaking.
The Project is the subject of an International Design Competition and includes a Cathedral, a Community Centre, an Academic School, Daycare, Seniors Apartments, a Bishop's Residence, a Retirement and Nursing Home and an Office Building. World-renowned Urban Planners, Architects and Landscape Architects from 26 countries have registered to submit master-plan proposals for the St. Mark's Coptic Canadian Village resulting in 63 Submissions.
Three winning plans will be chosen and the design teams will receive their awards as follows: First prize is $60,000, second is $35,000 and third is $25,000.
The Advisor to the Competition is one of Canada's premier Urban Designers, the Toronto based Roger du Toit, Architect, Planer and Landscape Architect, CM, FCSLA, FASLA, BCSLA. "The concept has ignited the design profession's imagination," said du Toit. "It is a rare opportunity to plan a project of interrelated community and religious buildings and outdoor spaces around a Cathedral. We are going back to the roots of religious building, seeing the church as the center of the community."
The Complex of religious and community facilities will be a place where Egyptian-Coptic Architecture is reborn in 21st Century expression. The Project is to be a composition of state-of-the-art designs that form harmonious interrelated buildings. The Cathedral will be the centerpiece and a landmark at the entrances of the Town of Markham and the City of Toronto.
The vision includes spaces of peace, serenity, beauty, a symphony of shape, texture and colour expressing the religious concepts of the Christian Coptic Orthodox faith, tradition and spiritual values. The congregation hopes the Cathedral will embody a sublime expression of their faith, traditions and spiritual values in a contemporary architectural vocabulary.
(From competition program)