The city that could have been: The exhibition of unrealised Toronto projects
Exhibition runs from May 6 to May 30.
Opening on Saturday, May 9 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
1958 city hall competition, courtesy of Canadian Architectural Archives, University of Calgary
Urbanscape Architectural Gallery, in partnership with the Toronto
Society of Architects (TSA) presents Unbuilt Toronto: The City That
Could Have Been. Juried images of unbuilt projects from practising
architects and designers are juxtaposed against historical images of
unrealized building proposals drawn from Mark Osbaldeston’s book,
Unbuilt Toronto: A History of the City That Might Have Been (Dundurn
Press, November, 2008). Presented in two parts, Unbuilt Toronto: The City That Could Have Been
consists of historical images – covering more than 150 years and as
selected from Mark Osbaldeston’s book. Visitors will be exposed to
proposals for ambitious and often controversial projects such as the
Civic Improvement Committee’s proposed Federal Avenue of 1911, Eaton’s
1928 stand-out College Street tower, and “Project Toronto,” Buckminster
Fuller’s futuristic plan for the city from 1968. The exhibition also
features images of more contemporary unrealized projects for Toronto,
many of which have never before been seen by the general public.The
Toronto Society of Architects has invited designers, large and small,
to submit unrealized architectural, landscape or urban design projects
that might have resulted in a very different city from the one seen
today. To ensure potency of dialogue, the contemporary projects
submitted must have had substantial potential for realization within
the Greater Toronto Area: each project had a client, was part of an
invited submission, or was short-listed for a competition. Final
selection by the TSA’s curatorial panel of architects, educators and
urbanists was based on design excellence, the context for cancellation,
and the significance of impact had the project been realized.
Exhibition is a part of the
5th annual Festival of Architecture and Design (fAd). Each May, fAd
showcases Toronto’s architecture and design communities with a variety
of events such as exhibitions, films lectures, readings and walking
tours.Meet local designers and international architects, activists and
academics. Celebrate good design and discover how it shapes our city
and enriches our lives. More information at www.toronto.ca/fad