Toronto's 2024 Winter Stations lineup seeks an architectural 'Resonance'

Toronto’s annual Winter Stations competition has revealed the lineup of participants for this year's special tenth edition. 

Elaborating on the 'Resonance' theme for 2024, organizers explain: “Resonance captures the echoes of our artistic legacy and the enduring impact of Winter Stations. It invites us to reflect on the moments that have left a lasting mark, the installations that have stirred our hearts, and the memories that have become part of our collective narrative.”

Competitors were asked to reimagine previous Winter Stations entries as part of the anniversary. Once constructed, the installations will remain on view along the Lake Ontario waterfront for a period of six weeks. The mission of the contest, which was developed as a collaboration between local firms RAW Design, Ferris + Associates, and Curio, is to encourage visitors to the city’s east-end beaches. Designers are limited to materials budgets of $5,000 CAD, with another $10,000 CAD limit on the money spent for design and construction labor.

Toronto Metropolitan University, The University of Waterloo School of Architecture, and the University of Guelph are once again the educational partners behind this year’s event. 

The exhibition opens on February 19th. Each winning design can be seen below. 

Nova by Toronto Metropolitan University Department of Architectural Science (Canada)

Description: "Beneath the night sky, stars shine and create geometric patterns. Nova is a star that has crashed on top of a lifeguard station and illuminates Woodbine Beach throughout the night. Nova highlights TMU’s past decade of Winter Stations, inspired by the origami, materiality, and form of Snowcone, Lithoform, and S’Winter Station. Nova introduces 3D printing, a textile canopy, and an elegant steel pipe connection to create a pavilion with 'Resonance.' The star pavilion shields users and encourages them to engage with their surroundings, and the lifeguard station makes a beacon for users to access panoramic views of the beach."

Winteraction by University of Guelph Department of Landscape Architecture, Ashari Architects (Canada and Iran)

Description: "WINTERACTION, resonating with OneCanada and WE[AR] projects, is a dual installation in Iran and Canada. It fosters solidarity and social interaction between the two nations. Visitors are invited on an introspective journey through a labyrinth, symbolizing a complex and challenging quest, leading from confusion to enlightenment, to reach inner peace. At the center, a virtual tree emerges as a symbol of peace and alliance, evolving dynamically with visitor interactions at both locations. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Winterstations, WINTERACTION transcends mere local interaction, integrating into Canada’s diverse cultural tapestry. This project champions human connections across borders, advocating for shared experiences, peace, and friendship."

Bobbin' by Max Perry, Jason Cai, Kenneth Siu, Simon Peiris, Yoon Hur, Angeline Reyes, Oluwatobiloba Babalola, Yiqing Liu, Kenyo Musa, Ali Hasan (Canada)

Description: "Bobbin’ invites the visitor to a place where pivotal moments and whimsical memories prompt reflection. It shelters visitors with slats that create an ever-changing threshold between the bobbing zone and the surrounding beach. The seesaws draw from the playground-like Sling Swing and Lifeline projects, while its form within the landscape reflects HotBox and Introspection. Each material has been sourced from previous student projects in addition to salvaged materials from the community of Cambridge. As you navigate through, bobbing up and down, a fresh perspective unfolds, encouraging resonance with the surrounding and past Winter Stations."

Making Waves by Adria Maynard and Purvangi Patel (Canada)

Description: "Making Waves is a whimsical piece of furniture that represents the ways that simple actions can ripple outwards to 'resonate' across time and space, moving and impacting others in surprising ways. The installation takes the form of an exaggerated couch, forming an unusual urban living room where neighbours can gather, play, and sit together by the water. Inspired by kinetic sculptures and whirligigs, the design is composed of a series of parts that dance when cranks are turned. Wooden slats act as rippling bench that rock and move those who are sitting, and vertical poles tipped with glowing globes bob in the air to signal people from afar. Making Waves pays homage to the 10 years of Winter Stations and the ways that public art can foster shared delight, contemplation, and play that brings together strangers and friends in public space."

Nimbus by David Stein (Canada)

Description: "Inspired by the airy strands that make up the 2016 installation Floating Ropes, Nimbus’s playful shapes and colours do more than just resonate with its predecessor. Nimbus evolves the concept and materials by adding saturated blue ropes hanging below a bubbly white structure. The station asks visitors to consider the presence and absence of rain in our contemporary world by referencing both severe storms and flooding, as well as concerning trends of lack of rain, drought, and desertification."

A Kaleidoscopic Odyssey by Brander Architects Inc: Adam Brander, Nilesh P., Ingrid Garcia, Maryam Emadzadeh (Canada)

Description: "A Kaleidoscopic Odyssey invites onlookers to step into an experience where we challenge where reality ends and imagination begins. Explore the limitless depths of perception with this mesmerizing adaptation of Kaleidoscope of the Senses, 2020. In this installation, there are 2 guiding concepts. The scale of a traditional kaleidoscope is magnified 84 times to a human scale so participants can inhabit the instrument and become a part of its wonder. Where a kaleidoscope is commonly a closed-loop system, this device is deliberately severed into 2 sculptured equal-and-opposite parts, with purposeful space between them."

We Caught a UFO! by Design Team: Xavier Madden and Katja Banović (Croatia and Australia)

Description: "We Caught a UFO! builds upon the project 'In the Belly of a Bear,' which utilised the lifeguard chair by lifting the public above ground into a cozy space, transporting them into a new world. We caught a UFO! reimagines these qualities by referencing the rumours and whispers of the many UFO sightings across Lake Ontario. However, these rumours can no longer be disputed, as there is now physical proof! Caught under a net, the UFO is wrapped in glued aluminum foil which glimmers in the light, contrasting its surroundings as a foreign object. The public (especially kids!) are encouraged to explore the UFO and can climb up into the main space where pink plexi windows transform the beach into a new tinted landscape or planet! Ultimately, We caught a UFO! is an installation which stimulates the public’s imagination while also providing a necessary shelter from the wind and cold."