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TTC Sherbourne: Community Workshops

On 09, May 2018 | In infrastructure, Inspiration, Make, News, Place, Project, Research, Space | By Admin

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Over three weeks in March and April, 2018, we led 24 community pattern-making workshops at seven different venues located within a 5-10 min walking radius of TTC Sherbourne Station.  We met with approximately 450 local community members, from kindergarten children to senior citizens, who contributed over 700 unique triangle patterns to this public art project. We are amazed!

Check out all of the pattern design galleries on the Sherbourne Station Community Mosaic Facebook page!

After a brief introduction to the project, participants were invited to create their own triangular patterns by arranging colourful cardboard tiles on special templates.  Twelve different colours reference the bold palette of Tom Thomson, a famous Canadian painter who once had a studio in the nearby Rosedale Ravine. When completed, every pattern was photographed and catalogued, and the individual or group of artists were given the opportunity to provide their name to be included on the public artwork plaque as a contributor.

Later this year, ceramic tile mosaics will be installed at multiple locations around TTC Sherbourne Station.  The mosaics will be assembled from custom-made tiles, manufactured in Canada from recycled glass. Each tile will be twice as large as the cardboard tiles used in the workshops.

The final mosaic pieces will be inspired by the patterns collected from community members.  Parts of individual patterns will be woven together to form new and complex patterns representing the creativity and interconnectivity of the local community.  

We greatly appreciate the hospitality, enthusiasm and support that we have received.  We would like to give special thanks to those who assisted in hosting the workshops: David Crichton, Rose Avenue Junior Public School; Shabana Sohail, Community Matters Toronto; Simon Storey, Rosedale Junior Public School; Allyson Payne, Branksome Hall School; Suja Selvaraj, St. James Town Community Corner; Suzanne Fernando, Toronto Public Library – St James Town Branch; Rick Lee, Wellesley Community Centre; Jaymie Sampa, 519 Space for Change.  Individual pattern-making participants will be acknowledged on a plaque that will be located near the station entrance.

The Sherbourne Station Community Mosaic public artwork has been commissioned by the Toronto Transit Commission as part of the Easier Access and Second Exit Program.

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13

Apr
2017

In Inspiration
News
Place
Research

By Admin

Livable Cities 2017: Sensing the City

On 13, Apr 2017 | In Inspiration, News, Place, Research | By Admin

Livable Cities 2017 – 2nd Annual Symposium

April 13, 2017

Anvil Centre. New Westminster, BC.

Thanks to Livable Cities 2017 for inviting Rebecca to talk about her practice and to give a presention on how our surroundings can stimulate our senses and help inform how we identify with a particular place.

Livable Cities” brings together interdisciplinary research, creative inquiry and city planning methods to explore current city development through sound, smell and other embodied perspectives. Presented by Simon Fraser University and hosted by the City of New Westminster, this one-day symposium will take up various disciplinary approaches, including architecture, community development, and socio-cultural issues. The event will include panels and talks, sensory workshops and sound art presentations. Communities in flux across the Lower Mainland present unique opportunities to engage with city planning strategies, urban densification, and the impact of soundscapes, smellscapes and mobilities on local urban environments.

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14

Jul
2015

In Make
News
Place

By Admin

Fantasma @ Project Space

On 14, Jul 2015 | In Make, News, Place | By Admin

Fantasma

Fantasma Viaduct Prints

Project Space – Monthly Open Studio: Wir Bauen Eine Neue Stadt

>>>Facebook/event invite

Join Project Space for their Monthly Open Studio presentation of “Wir Bauen Eine Neue Stadt (We Build A New City),” an exhibition of photographic works based on themes of architecture and urbanism that features artwork by Rebecca Bayer, David Gregory and Ryan Ming. A special edition zine and series of postcards realized for the exhibition will be available.

“Fantasma” is a series by Rebecca Bayer and David Gregory that explores the potential of space beneath Vancouver’s viaduct infrastructure. These images layer a repeated silk-screened pattern, derived from the negative space surrounding the Dunsmuir Viaduct, over alternately processed photographs developed on rag paper.

“Moving on Up” is a series of photographs Ryan Ming has taken throughout Vancouver, documenting various forms of high-rise housing developments built in the 1960s and 70s. The images display an interchangeability in the appearance of raw concrete and geometrics that seem indistinguishable from postwar housing estates in Europe.

REBECCA BAYER is an artist and architectural designer whose work concentrates on ways people interact with the materiality of the city.

DAVID GREGORY is a photographer who focuses on Vancouver as both a subject and a backdrop, addressing ideas concerning public and private space.

RYAN MING is a Vancouver-based writer and artist. His photography examines themes of time, urban fragments and landscape documentation, utilizing a cinematographic approach.

 

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04

Jul
2015

In Make
News
Project
Research

By Admin

CITY FABRIC – coming soon

On 04, Jul 2015 | In Make, News, Project, Research | By Admin

It’s been several years in the works but CITY FABRIC is now underway and due for installation under the south end of Vancouver’s Burrard Bridge this Summer.  Rebecca (spacemakeplace) and Matthew Soules (MSA) have recently been material testing.  More to come soon…

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Matthew, Rebecca, Jeff and Cam testing the rigging system for CITY FABRIC

 

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15

May
2015

In Place
Research

By Admin

Alberta’s Most Valuable Resource

On 15, May 2015 | In Place, Research | By Admin

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Albertan Sky

The land now known as Alberta, has been occupied by people for around 8,000 years. Until less than 150 years ago only the sky and the North Saskatchewan River dominated the views across the sweeping prairie vistas where the City of Edmonton now stands. The success of its continued occupation of these lands will be closely related to the stability and quality of the water supply.

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Canadian Watersheds

The City of Edmonton straddles the North Saskatchewan River which has its headwaters in the Columbia Icefield, high in the Canadian Rockies. The river flows east across Alberta and Saskatchewan to Lake Winnipeg before eventually draining through the Nelson River into Hudson Bay.

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Water runs through Canada’s rivers like blood through the country’s veins. Since time immemorial, people who have inhabited the Prairies have relied on the rivers to sustain life. The North Saskatchewan River is part of one of Canada’s most historic waterways and has anchored the urban and economic development of much of Canada’s western prairies.

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Alberta Oil Sands

Alberta’s economy is one of the strongest in the world and to a significant extent its industries rely on an abundant supply of water. While the Saskatchewan River Basin was once predominately covered with wetlands and grasslands, population increases and industrial land use have placed heavy pressure on the water supply and rendered Alberta the most vulnerable of the Prairie Provinces to water shortages.

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Red Deer River and South Saskatchewan River. Near Empress, AB.

This situation is compounded by indications that the mountain supplies of water are diminishing. Most large glaciers in the headwaters of the Saskatchewan, Bow and Athabasca rivers have shrunk by ~25% in the last century. Environment Canada has stated that the sustainability of freshwater supplies is a growing concern worldwide and it lists the threat to water availability in Alberta as moderate to high.

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01

Nov
2014

In Inspiration
Place
Research

By Admin

Wikipedia: Cairn

On 01, Nov 2014 | In Inspiration, Place, Research | By Admin

cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaeliccàrn (plural càirn).

Inuksuit in northern Canada were markers used for wayfinding and to locate caches of food or other stores.

A cairn to mark a mountain summit in GraubündenSwitzerland.

Cairns are used as trail markers in many parts of the world, in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, as well as in barren deserts and tundra. They vary in size from small stone markers to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose conical rock piles to delicately balanced sculptures and elaborate feats of megalithic engineering. Cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, whether for increased visibility or for religious reasons. An ancient example is the inuksuk (plural inuksuit), used by the InuitInupiatKalaallitYupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found from Alaska to Greenland. This region, above the Arctic Circle, is dominated by the tundra biome and has areas with few natural landmarks.

In modern times, cairns are often erected as landmarks, a use they have had since ancient times; but, since prehistory, they have also been built for a variety of other reasons, such as burial monuments and for defence and hunting, as well as ceremonial, astronomical, and other purposes.

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01

Sep
2014

In Inspiration
Place
Research

By Admin

Cantharellus formosus – a social network

On 01, Sep 2014 | In Inspiration, Place, Research | By Admin

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Pacific Chanterelle Mushrooms

Cantharellus formosus is a mycelium commonly known as the Pacific Golden Chanterelle mushroom and is native to the Pacific Northwest. The popular edible mushrooms are the fruiting bodies that form on nodes of much larger mycelium organisms that live in the soil and criss-cross the region in vast networks.

The Pacific Golden Chanterelle, like other fungi, are ancient forms of life. Pacific Golden Chanterelle share an intimate and symbiotic relationship with the West Coast’s conifer forests and especially the mighty Western Cedar. These two very different species support each other in a mutually beneficial way at a cellular level, giving and taking important resources that lie beyond each other’s reach.

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Symbiotic relationship between conifer trees and Cantharellus formosus

The Pacific Golden Chanterelle is fed by, and in return feeds, the conifers while actively supporting its community, helping to support soil structure, regulate moisture content and recover nutrients from decomposition. The Pacific Golden Chanterelle lives off the land with its amazing web of branching, connecting hyphae and in doing so strengthens the surrounding landscape.

Conifer forests once fully covered Burnaby, BC and as early as 5000 years ago this area was the foraging and hunting territory for native aboriginal societies. The Pacific Golden Chanterelle featured in the diets of Coastal First Nations and they remain popular delicacies in locally sourced cuisine today.

Pacific Golden Chanterelle mushrooms still appear in local forests from July to December and are identified by their orangy-yellow colour, meaty texture and funnel-shape. On the underside of the smooth cap, the mushroom has gill-like ridges that run down onto its stipe, which tapers down seamlessly from the cap. The false gills often have a pinkish hue. Chanterelles have a mild, sweet odor, are very high in Vitamin D, Iron, Copper, and Niacin. It is interesting to note that Vitamin D is especially important to humans who live in places that can have low-light conditions.

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Vancouver Networks

Since Settler times the landscape around Burnaby’s Metrotown has been transformed and today it is a busy urban centre and hub for transit and retail. Maps of Metrotown show how it is connected to its neighboring cities and communities by a network of roads, including the historic Kingsway, the Skytrain as well as many bus routes and cycle networks. More detailed maps indicate an additionally complex web of power lines, water lines, and communication networks that interconnect and support city life like a giant hidden organism.

Each pathway and connection provides an opportunity for social interaction and the sharing of ideas. Mycelium like Cantharellus formosus can be understood as an organic metaphor for the interconnected social networks that bind modern urban communities such as Burnaby’s Metrotown area together – each part connected to the next.

 

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01

Jul
2014

In Inspiration
Place
Research

By Admin

Richmond Barn Owl Nestboxes

On 01, Jul 2014 | In Inspiration, Place, Research | By Admin

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Garden City Lands. Richmond, BC.

The 55.2 hectares (136.5 acres) Garden City Lands, located between Westminster Highway, Alderbridge Way, Garden City Way and No. 4 Road, is within Vancouver’s protected Agricultural Land Reserve and plays a crucial role as a wildlife refuge in the City of Richmond. The green spaces like is an incredible amenity for the people of Richmond and is also a vital habitat and hunting ground for several rare or threatened species including the Barn Owl.

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Barn Owl

Barn Owls can and will cohabit with other owls, bats and small birds like doves and sparrows. Barn Owls prefer quiet cavities to nest or roost either in trees or tall structures with multiple openings. They easily take to nest boxes placed on poles or mounted on modern barns as long as the box is at least 3-4 m above the ground and safely out of reach from raccoons and other predators. Once Barn Owls discover a nest box it will normally be used every year.

Art Documentation

spacemakeplace – concept rendering

Research shows that even a single nest box can mean survival for local Barn Owls and can help increase threatened populations significantly. The Richmond Nature Park, located only a short distance from the Garden City Lands, manages a Barn Owl nest box program with seven nest boxes installed around Richmond on behalf of the City. The three nest boxes located at Terra Nova Rural Park all reared young in 2014!

There is potential for at least one more Barn Owl nest box at Terra Nova and several other suitable locations have been identified around Richmond and earmarked for funding when it becomes available.

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05

Nov
2013

In Inspiration

By Admin

Viaduct Curtain FOUND!

On 05, Nov 2013 | In Inspiration | By Admin

Viaduct Curtain Found Infrastucture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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