A few weekends ago I stumbled upon Humber College’s Lakeshore Campus in Mimico. Originally home to the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital, Humber College purchased the land in 1991 and began the intense restoration process of converting the defunct hospital into an animated college campus. Many of the hospital’s original buildings still remain to this day, characterized by their warm red brick facades and yellow trimmed windows. The campus was eerily empty on this beautiful Sunday morning, further lending to the unexpected past of these historic buildings.
Winter Stations
On an unseasonably beautiful Sunday a few weekends ago, I eagerly headed to the east end to check out this year's winners of Winter Stations. Scattered throughout Kew, Balmy, and Ashbridges Bay beaches, Winter Stations is an annual design competition that sees the lifeguard stands along Toronto's beachfront re-imagined for the winter landscape.
I loved the creativity behind last year's installations - you can check out my post here - so naturally, I had high hopes for the 2016 exhibit. However, I was a little disappointed. There was obvious disparity between the concept and execution of some of the installations - great ideas on paper that fell flat once built. Whether this was due to poor foresight in the design stage or just the obvious wear and tear of Toronto winters (and the fact I caught the exhibit close to the end), I'm hoping we see some great installations in 2017.
Flow by Calvin Fung and Victor Huynh. This one was my favourite.
Floating Ropes by MUDO (Elodie Doukhan and Nicolas Mussche).
In the Belly of a Bear by Caitlind Brown, Wayne Garrett, and Lane Shordee.
Lithothorm by Ryerson University.
Aurora Borealis by Laurentian University.
Sauna by FFLO (Claire Furnley and James Fox).
