Join The Cultural Landscape Foundation for a What’s Out There weekend conference in Toronto May 21 – May 24 at the Isabel Bader Theatre, University of Toronto, 93 Charles Street West in Toronto. Leading with Landscape will tackle numerous issues including those that deal with the city’s identity – what does it mean for a 21st-century city to be historic and modern at the same time? – and stewardship – what new models for public/private financing and management are emerging?
The international implications of this planning and development strategy will be to address whether a 21st-century city can be both regional and global, and whether we can we use landscape as an engine to meet market demands while cultivating a sustainable urbanism.
Participating speakers, including internationally significant private-sector practitioners working on current and proposed projects in Toronto, municipal leaders, leading critics and thinkers, and academics from Canada, the US and the Netherlands, will also examine how existing parks and open spaces are adapted to accommodate contemporary and future needs and expectations, and how innovative landscape planning and design techniques developed in Toronto apply to other cities, and vice versa – and the impact of imported ideas on local conditions.
The opening reception takes place Thursday May 21 at the Gardiner Museum, 111 Queen’s Park. This event will launch the conference, What’s Out There Weekend Toronto, and the What’s Out There Toronto Guide. The evening will also honor the tremendous efforts by students and faculty at Ryerson University, who have done extensive research and produced entries for the What’s Out There database, the inaugural site outside of the US. Finally, the evening will culminate in the presentation of TCLF’s Stewardship Excellence Award to an individual, group and/or organization that embodies and promotes sound stewardship of the city’s landscape legacy.
Toronto – recently ranked by the Economist magazine as “the best place to live†and North America’s fourth largest city – is the center of world-class landscape architecture projects, the world’s largest ravine system and a substantial legacy of extant parks. These will all be the focus of a daylong conference, and other events including What’s Out There Weekend Toronto, featuring two days of free, expert-led tours, and the launch of a free, online What’s Out There Toronto City Guide.
Much of the new activity, which is leading an unprecedented period of the city’s growth, is occurring along the Don River where parks by internationally significant practitioners that incorporate ecology, culture and design excellence have been built to the highest standards. Stewardship of these parks, designed and currently maintained by private enterprise, will eventually fall to the city.
Second Wave of Modernism III: Leading with Landscape will tackle numerous issues including those that deal with the city’s identity – what does it mean for a 21st century city to be historic and modern at the same time? – and stewardship – what new models for public/private financing and management are emerging?
The international implications of this planning and development strategy will address whether a 21st century city can be both regional and global, and whether we can use landscape as an engine to meet market demands while cultivating a sustainable urbanism.
Participating speakers, including internationally significant private sector practitioners working on current and proposed projects in Toronto, municipal leaders, leading critics and thinkers, and academics from Canada, the US and the Netherlands, will also examine how existing parks and open spaces are adapted to accommodate contemporary and future needs and expectations, and how innovative landscape planning and design techniques developed in Toronto apply to other cities, and vice versa – and the impact of imported ideas on local conditions.
On Friday, May 22 from 6:30 – 11, a Toronto the Good Reception at The Fermented Cellar, Historic Distiller District, 28 Distillery Lane, will be a highlight. In its eleventh year, Toronto the Good, an annual party hosted by ERA Architects, will take place at The Fermenting Cellar in the historic Distillery District. The restored red brick, Victorian-era complex that once housed the Gooderham & Worts whiskey distillery is now an exciting destination with more than 70 cultural and retail operations. Join us for free hors d’oeuvre, cash bar, and a lively crowd of people passionate about design and democracy in Toronto. Admission is free but registration is required.
Saturday, May 23, from 6 – 9, join us for a late afternoon tour and twilight reception – featuring creative, local cuisine paired with Ontario’s top wines and craft beers – in the BMO Atrium at Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Avenue. The former Don Valley Pressed Brick Works Company (see below,) which produced bricks that built many of Toronto’s landmark buildings, is now a global showcase for green design and urban sustainability – and it was named one of the world’s Top Ten geotourism sites by National Geographic.
Speakers include Jane Amidon of Northeastern University, Paul J. Bedford, Charles A. Birnbaum, Geoff Cape, Claude Cormier, Adriaan Geuze, Jennifer Keesmaat, Bruce Kuwabara, Nina-Marie Lister, Janet Rosenberg, Marc Ryan, Elizabeth Silver, Brendan Steward, Mayor John Tory, and Thomas L. Woltz. An early bird rate is available until April 1. Register at www.tclf.org.
