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Orphan Spaces Overview

Cities inherently amass ‘Orphan Space’ – areas that become lost in the shuffle of building new homes, businesses, parks, utility and transportation corridors and other phenomenon associated with large urban systems. Design Exchange, in association with the City of Toronto and Ian Chodikoff (Editor, Canadian Architect), believes that creative and inclusive design direction involving design professionals and the community can reintegrate these forgotten spaces so that each and every space in Toronto can be made livable and beautiful. Orphan Spaces: priority neighbourhoods – designing spaces with young adults In its third installment, Orphan Spaces was presented this fall as part of the 2006 Universal Design Professional Development Series: designing spaces with young adults and World Town Planning Day. The one day Orphan Spaces workshop centered around designing spaces with young adults involving five priority neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto, and multi-disciplinary teams, each made up of two young adults from each neighbourhood in focus and four designers, artists etc.. Participating partners, DX, the City of Toronto and Canadian Architect magazine, represented by Editor Ian Chodikoff, relied on young adults to define and outline the challenges and concerns they perceive in their neighbourhoods prior to the workshop and had them share their thoughts, and work in consultation with their design team members on November 8th. Teams worked towards strategies and solutions to improve the chosen neighbourhoods. Teams were involved in exploratory and planning activities, focused on the culture of different neighbourhoods and worked with various diversities throughout each chosen neighbourhood. With this workshop, we aimed to bridge the gap between the thought processes and ideas of young adults and design/sustainability experts, and as a result, meet the needs of communities through collaborative design processes. Participant Information: Date: Wednesday, November 8, 2006 Time: 9:30-5:00pm Place: Patty Watt Room, 3rd floor, Design Exchange, 234 Bay Street Fee: The 2006 Orphan Spaces Series is offered free of charge Registration deadline: October 26, 2006 Registration specifics:

o Please register individually. DX will aim to create multi-disciplinary teams.

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o For this offering we encourage industrial designers, landscape architects, architects, planners, way-finding and sustainability experts and artists to register but ALL design professionals, community members, etc. are welcome.

o Participants will be notified prior to the workshop of their neighbourhood/site and will be encouraged to visit their site prior to the workshop on November 8, 2006.

o Teamwork and presentations will be a key component of the workshop. o Visual and oral presentations should reflect the dynamic of multi-disciplinary

teamwork. o Teams must address the principles of sustainable design and universal design in

their project visions/presentations. o Teams will work towards creating practical design solutions that require modest

or realistic capital costs, cost effective and cost-efficient long-term maintenance and/or life-cycle cost analysis.

o Teams will identify potential community, business and government partners /supporters who can assist in the possible implementation of their project.

o Teams will create a timeline for possible implementation.

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Agenda This fall, Orphan Spaces is presented as part of the 2006 Universal Design Professional Development Series: designing spaces with young adults and World Town Planning Day Date: November 8, 2006 Time: 9:30am – 5:00pm (Please arrive at DX at 9:15am) Location: Patty Watt Room, 3rd floor, Design Exchange, 234 Bay Street Facilitator: Ian Chodikoff (Editor, Canadian Architect magazine) Agenda 9:30-10:00am Introductions 10:00-12:00pm Pair young adults with designers etc.; Team work 12:00-12:30pm Lunch 12:30-2:30pm Team work 2:30-4:30pm Team presentations of site design proposals 4:30-5:00pm Opportunity for further discussion

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Project Partners In fall 2006, Orphan Spaces was presented by the Design Exchange in co-operation with the City of Toronto's Clean & Beautiful City Secretariat, Social Development, Finance & Administration Division and Canadian Architect Magazine. Design Exchange Paola Poletto, Senior Director, Programs Daniela Bryson, Professional Development Coordinator Canadian Architect magazine Ian Chodikoff, Editor Clean & Beautiful City Secretariat, City of Toronto Elyse Parker, Project Manager Cristin Lazier, Project Officer Steven Bell, Project Officer Social Development, Finance & Administration Division, City of Toronto Claudia Coore, Community Development Officer

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Reason for participation/interest

Participants were asked to include their reason for participating/interest in the program on their Orphan Spaces registration form. Youth: “It’s an opportunity to learn new things in photography, design and building. Also, it will help other people by giving our imputs to help and creating a teen/kid friendly place.” “For an opportunity to learn about design.” “The reason that I am participating in this project is because I can give the youths a place to go.” “I am interested in this program because I want to bring change in my community.” “I feel that by participating in this program I can play a small part in helping my city.” “… I am often engaged in the activity of the community.” “I felt that it would be an asset to myself and my community if I participated in this program.” “I chose to participate because I enjoy taking pictures as well as making changes.” Professionals/Interns/Post-Secondary students: Graphic Designer “This workshop sounds like a great event to participate in for a number of reasons: 1) I have a particular passion for designing environments 2) It will be very creatively challenging to work with younger people on designing a public space 3) I think this workshop will be an excellent opportunity to meet designers from other disciplines and be influenced by how they solve problems Architecture student “I like to work with people of various backgrounds as a team and I would like to apply the knowledge I learn from school to a real life situation.” Intern Architect “Interest in community involvement and positive affects of good design.”

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Intern Architect “I am interested in collaborative community design in Toronto.” Architect “Designing anything in collaboration with others is fun.” Environmental Design student “I am very interested in understanding, planning and designing urban public spaces in relation to how people use and respond to these environments.” Managing Director/Curator “Interest in community design projects.” Fashion Communication student “Design and communication.” Architect “Multidisciplinary design charette = great opportunity to share ideas with professionals, and the programme is interesting – working to beautify the city for the benefit of children.” Architect “Previous positive experience in DX program.” Industrial design student “Aside from a personal interest, I’m working on a project on unused space in the city and would interested in being part of a workshop to participate and get an idea of what can come from one.” Architect/Landscape Designer/Construction “I’ve always believed that learning by doing and collaboration with others from different disciplines is the best way to promote sustaining principles in many aspects of design.” Architect “I’ve always had a personal and professional interest in the interplay of spaces and society and the implications of each on the other.” Architect “I like design and working with youth.” New media/interactive artist “Sounds interesting and would like to see process.”

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Orphan Spaces Checklist

Youth were asked to take photographs of their neighbourhood/space in focus and to complete the following checklist to bring to the workshop to share with their team mates. The following questions ask you to consider the design and the quality of space of your orphaned space. Walk through the site and think about how the landscape can be used by you and your friends, or neighbours who come to the space. HOW EASY IS IT TO GET TO THE SPACE? -bus/subway -bike/rollerblade -foot What improvements would make it easier to come to the space? WHEN WOULD YOU VISIT THE SPACE? -day -night -during the week -weekend -summertime -wintertime How could you encourage more people to come and enjoy the space at various seasons or times of the day? THINK ABOUT THE KINDS OF ACTIVITIES THAT TAKE PLACE. -football/soccer/ultimate -people walking their dog -people reading/sleeping -picnics How can you encourage a greater variety of safe activities? THINK ABOUT THE VARIETY OF LANDSCAPE AND FEATURES IN THE SPACE. THESE COULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: -grassy areas -playgrounds for little kids -places for teenagers to hang out without bothering anyone -places to be alone -places to lie on the ground -shady trees/ places to lie in the sun -fields big enough for team sports -safe lighting at night How could you create elements in the space that would make it safer to enjoy?

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Teams and Sites The strategy of having people register individually, instead of in whole teams, allowed us to create more diverse groups for the young people to work with. For instance, we aimed to include at least one post-secondary student on each team and to provide the younger participants with access to a range of professionals, from architects to researchers to new media artists. Team 1 Site: Weston/Mt. Dennis (Weston Road between Sidney Belsey Crescent And Dora Spencer Road) Team: Colanthony Humphrey, Maryatha Procope-Shaw Jennifer Lee International Development Studies, Institute Without Boundaries David Steiner Architect, Cohos Evamy Deborah Wang Architecture intern, KPMB Architects Aimee Wood Graphic Designer, Maximum 60 Design Communications Team 2 Site: Jamestown (10 Rampart Road, open space adjacent to community centre) Team: Brandie Wilkerson, Travis Wilkerson-Ihama Joanne Malakassiotis Jewellery designer / industrial designer Reema Kanwar Architecture, Institute Without Boundaries Halla Koudsi Fashion Communication student, Ryerson University Frank Romagosa Design Research and Innovation, Curiosity Inc. Team 3 Site: Jane/Finch (field behind 10 San Romanoway) Team: Kashief Bobb, Ryan Buchanan Vivian Gabrail Architecture student, Ryerson University Heather Ligler Architecture, Institute Without Boundaries

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Luca Marotti Industrial Design student, Ontario College of Art and Design Andrei Zerebecky Architecture, Precipice Studios Team 4 Site: Kingston/Galloway (recreational space behind East Scarborough Boys and Girls Club) Team: Sasha J Allen, Alicia Sandy Lauren Cho Environmental Design student, Ontario College of Art and Design Mark Jones New media/interactive art, Seneca College Cristian Stefanescu Architecture student, Ryerson University Hunter Trent Architecture, Stantec Architecture Ltd. Team 5 Site: Eglinton East/Kennedy Park (green space behind 702 Kennedy Road) Team: Latoya Peters, Molavizar Jinky Gavin Baxter Architecture, Landscape Design & Construction, Institute

Without Boundaries David Girolami Managing Director/Curator, Pixel Gallery/Art Institute of Toronto Vivian Lo Architecture student, University of Toronto Chris Mohan Architecture student, Ryerson University

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Team Work

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Ian Chodikoff addresses the group

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Presentations Team 1 Site: Weston/Mt. Dennis (Weston Road between Sidney Belsey Crescent And Dora Spencer Road) Background:

• New neighbourhood, create a sense of community • 2 bus stops at the corners of site • Youth currently hang out at Jane/Weston at 7-11. There isn’t a lot to do in the

area. Concept:

• Create a new recreation centre – a lot of glass walls so one can watch/guard the community and activities

• Gym/fitness • Basketball courts • Table tennis • Tennis court • Project movies on the walls • Café/vending machines – indoor/outdoor access

• Playground (for younger children in condo’s) set close to community garden • Community garden area – rent out to volunteers, sense of ownership • Create “benches” embedded into the sloped landscape for watching the entire

area i.e. friends or parents hanging out watching activities • Use existing pathways but pave them; add more lighting for safety

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Team 2 Site: Jamestown (10 Rampart Road, open space adjacent to community centre) Background:

• Would like to expand the summer camp • No shade/shelter, large open space

Concept:

• Creating a new space for the community to gather, hold events, cultural expression

• Addition of a splash pad for summer; skating/hockey in the winter • Add lighting to existing pathway system • Build series of activity areas starting from centre “nucleus” which is a community

garden • Includes a ‘walk of fame’ incorporating handprints and personalization of

community in concrete, BBQ pit, benches, educations plaques of birds/plant life, childplay area with interactive, large scale blocks

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Team 3 Site: Jane/Finch (field behind 10 San Romanoway) Background:

• Issues with jay-walking across Finch Avenue from north to access Jane-Finch Mall on the south side

• More activities for young children i.e. playground and daycare vs. youth • Limited use of current recreation centre due to an ‘incident’ last year

Concept:

• Construct a pedestrian bridge over the parking garage & over Finch Avenue that connects north side of Finch to Jane-Finch Mall

• Keep the large open space for activities - grade it downwards though and create seating around the edges so you can watch the activities going on i.e. winter, skating/tobaggoning

• Create an outdoor space for eating i.e. cafe/restaurant/BBQ's, outdoor space for people in the buildings

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Team 4 Site: Kingston/Galloway (recreational space behind East Scarborough Boys and Girls Club) Background:

• Current East Scarborough Boys & Girls Club is busy & overcrowded Concepts:

• Basketball court/hockey rink with a barricade from the street • Addition of outdoor speakers for music during play; also used for

outdoor movie night (Friday evenings in the summer • New building extension with a youth/rec room, large meeting room – first phase

could be a Portable • Additional lighting on the property • Outdoor seating/meeting areas • Create a pathway from the GO Station into the back of the centre

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Team 5 Site: Eglinton East/Kennedy Park (green space behind 702 Kennedy Road) Background:

• Need identified to connect the Second Base Shelter with the rest of the community

• 16-21 year olds drop-in, temporary housing, meals • Once/week residents meetings where all residents have to leave for a 2 hour

period • Closest community centre is 10 minute walk away

Concept:

• Regenerate the grounds – create a new recreation space with basketball/volleyball court

• Build an indoor/outdoor pavilion for workshops/activities using locally sustainable materials

• Creek restoration & clean-up (local volunteers) • Community garden (by railway) • Murmur – vocal audio sign about the history of the area • Addition of benches and lighting for the community at large

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Team Feedback We have followed up with the participants, inquiring about if they have had feedback as a result of their presentations on November 8, 2006. Site: Weston/Mt. Dennis (Weston Road between Sidney Belsey Crescent And Dora Spencer Road) Team member: Deborah Wang Architecture intern No, I haven’t had any contact with, or feedback from, anyone in the community group. Most of my group members wanted to exchange contact info, so we did that. I thought Orphans Spaces was well organized. The video about public space was amazing and poignant. The design sessions were somewhat rushed though, and there was a bit of panic. It would have been nice to have a little more time to draw/collage the ideas. Site: Jamestown (10 Rampart Road, open space adjacent to community centre) Team member: Joanne Malakassiotis Jewellery designer / industrial designer The opportunity presented to me in November 2006 to be part of the team for the Orphan Spaces proposal was fantastic. I learned a great deal from the experience and met some very influential people. It was an honour to work on something so important to our community and our city. That being said, I haven't received any feedback or had any developments arise as a result of collaborating on the Orphan Spaces proposal. I am interested in finding out the outcome of the Orphan Spaces proposal that the groups presented back in November. Site: Jane/Finch (field behind 10 San Romanoway) Team member: Andrei Zerebecky M.Arch P R E C I P I C E Studios Inc. I have not heard anything back from the community regarding the orphan spaces charette, though I enjoyed the opportunity to propose design solutions in conjunction with members of the community. My suggestion would be next time, to involve people who will take an active part in the process, rather than uninterested youths. Some

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members of these communities were obviously very active in the community and outspoken. I think that helps produce an appropriate design solution. Site: Kingston/Galloway (recreational space behind East Scarborough Boys and Girls Club) Team member: Trent Hunter

Stantec Architecture Ltd., Architects I have unfortunately not had any contact with the East Scarborough Boys and Girls Club since the charrette. It seems that without somebody from the local community grabbing an idea and really pushing forward with it, it is difficult for ideas to go anywhere (especially expensive ones - this particular group's primary concern was an immediate need for more enclosed space). It seemed to be a somewhat similar scenario with the retail Orphan Spaces charrette too. I was involved with a team, but in our case the local community representative didn't seem to really latch onto the ideas we generated, and so the thing didn't go anywhere. Nevertheless I was really happy to be a part of both events. I think any amount of dialogue within the design community, and especially between the design community and other groups, to do with improving the forgotten corners (and communities) of our city is great. Even if one idea out of every 20 were to go somewhere, this would be amazing. Also, I think the DX did a great job of organizing and hosting, and I think Ian Chodikoff is to be commended on guiding the teams through the compressed brainstorming/design process. I'm not sure whether you are planning to continue similar events, but if so it might be possible to find local non-profit groups that are already planning to develop, but who still need to secure funding for community projects. That way any ideas and conceptual images generated could be donated to the local groups, who might be able to use them as a tool for generating interest and possibly funding for their projects. Team member: Cristian Stefanescu Ryerson University Orphan Spaces is a great program in terms of gathering the necessary parties together to support, examine, synthesize, comment on the urban condition and propose solutions. Unfortunately, I feel that it lacks the necessary vehicles to bring this work to some sort of fruition. As a participant in the first Orphan Spaces, I worked with other designers and the representatives of the given neighbourhood to bring forward a propsal for an Orphan

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Space within their neighbourhood. The reps showed much interest in developing a proposal but showed a strong reluctancy to invest more time or money into further pursuing the cause, unless the city was to show interest and a level of commitment to it as well. The work was published in Canadian Architect, which was great exposure, yet it unfortunately didn't lead to any push forward in the project. During the November charette, working with Sasha and Alicia from the East Scarborough Boys and Girls Club, was great in that we were able to clearly set out what the issues were and formulate a competent proposal. Our group was excited about it but we didn't know what the next step was. The youth were asking if, as a result of this charette, they would receive help to better their community. This was their hope. I guess what i'm saying is that the communities which participate in the charettes come to the table with the expectation that something will be done. They are willing. Us designers are also willing both from public/social perspective as well as from a personal perspective. Everything that leads up to a charette and the charette itself is great. The fact alone that this occurs is great and it owes much to the DX, as well as the partners and sponsors involved. The downside is that it all seems to fizzle away once the charrette ends. I don't know if what is needed is more commitment from the city, or from private companies. But I do know that there is a need to establish an able vehicle that can further these proposals. Site: Eglinton East/Kennedy Park (green space behind 702 Kennedy Road) Team member: David Girolami

TDAA/Pixel Gallery I have not had any further contact with anyone involved that day. Mostly due to such a hectic schedule, but I did make connection, and that was worth while. I thought it was a great experience. It was extremely fulfilling in that it enabled such diverse expertise to collaborate in a timeframe that made everyone get to a point. It also made me feel very inspired to become more involved and aware of my community and the issues surrounding others, and how I may think about helping in the future when the opportunity arises. That said, I feel that more attempt should be made to ensure that there are connections to the community heads at the final presentations and a someone appointed to facilitate that connection with (MPP's, Community leaders etc.) to ensure that these proposals move forward in some fashion, and not forgotten as there were a LOT of great ideas from very talented people both professional and other.

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DX Assessment Orphan Spaces: Priority Neighbourhoods – designing spaces with young adults was a success. Building on feedback from the Orphan Spaces installment presented in Spring 2006, together with our partners, we were able to improve on the program. For example, professionals worked directly with members from the communities in focus. Also, team requirements were more clearly set-out from the registration phase of the program. We were able to fulfill our goal of attracting a broad range of students and professionals to take part in truly multi-disciplinary teams. Also, by asking people why they wanted to participate at the registration phase, we were able to gather the knowledge of what participants thought they wanted to get out of the workshop up front. Reasons for participation ranged from ‘learning about design’ to ‘community activism.’ In order to improve the program we need a strategy and source of funding for implementation of the design solutions. The Design Exchange, our partners and charrette participants feel that seeing tangible results would make the experience that much more rewarding. In the days following the workshop we received much positive feedback from participants. Once person sent the following comment:

“I just wanted to congratulate you on an amazing event and experience! I had a great time, and it was one of the most exciting and creative things I have done a while. Thank you!”

Results of the workshop will be on display at Design Exchange February 5 – March 24, 2007 as part of the exhibition Universal Design and Orphan Spaces. Follow-up meetings have been held to develop a phase II scenario involving implementation of some of the work initiated in this program. Identification of partners is underway. Coordinators are developing a program to roll out in the spring and fall of 2007.