Architecture

Project: Under Gardiner gets Toronto on the road to a new public park

Project: Under Gardiner gets Toronto on the road to a new public park
Under Gardiner will be a new public park that will run for a 1.75 km (1.09 mi) below an expressway
Under Gardiner will be a new public park that will run for a 1.75 km (1.09 mi) below an expressway
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The project has been made possible by way of a CA$25 million (US$19 million) partnership between philanthropists Judy and Wil Matthews and Waterfront Toronto
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The project has been made possible by way of a CA$25 million (US$19 million) partnership between philanthropists Judy and Wil Matthews and Waterfront Toronto
Under Gardiner will be a new public park that will run for a 1.75 km (1.09 mi) below an expressway
2/3
Under Gardiner will be a new public park that will run for a 1.75 km (1.09 mi) below an expressway
Under Gardiner will host year-round cultural programming
3/3
Under Gardiner will host year-round cultural programming
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Toronto, Canada, is to become home to a new linear park that will make use of existing infrastructure. Project: Under Gardiner will be built beneath a section of the city's Gardiner Expressway. There will be new walking and cycling routes, as well as recreational and cultural spaces.

The 4-ha (10-ac) project takes the same approach as the proposed Miami Underline, reanimating land below a raised road, much of which is typically left unused. Although the planned stretch in Toronto is much shorter than that in Miami, at 1.75 km (1.09 mi) compared to 16 km (10 mi), it will focus a great deal more on cultural elements.

There are, of course, a host of other project across the world that are seeking, or have sought, to regenerate existing infrastructure for use as new public space, most notably the High Line. The team behind Project: Under Gardiner explains on its website that it believes this is through necessity.

"We are entering into a new era of thinking about public space," it states. "Globally and locally, revitalization projects are underway that merge infrastructure with the public realm. There is a general sense that we are at the final frontier of usable space and we need to work with what we already have."

The project has been made possible by way of a CA$25 million (US$19 million) partnership between philanthropists Judy and Wil Matthews and Waterfront Toronto
The project has been made possible by way of a CA$25 million (US$19 million) partnership between philanthropists Judy and Wil Matthews and Waterfront Toronto

Under Gardiner will run from Strachan Avenue to Spadina Avenue, connecting communities such as Liberty Village, Niagara, Fort York Neighbourhood, CityPlace, Bathurst Quay and Wellington Place. It will also connect a host of attractions along Toronto's waterfront.

In addition to creating new thoroughfares for pedestrians, joggers and cyclists, one the of aims of the project is to create "a new outdoor living room for the use of the 70,000 residents in nearby neighbourhoods and for visitors who use the many amenities and attractions in the area."

Under Gardiner will be a constantly evolving space that will host a range of programming. Up to 55 cultural spaces, or "rooms," will be created using the concrete post-and-beam structural elements that support the Gardiner. These will be used for music, food, theatre, visual arts, education, dance, sports, recreation, farmer's markets, children's gardens, community gatherings and more.

Under Gardiner will host year-round cultural programming
Under Gardiner will host year-round cultural programming

The project has been made possible by way of a CA$25 million (US$19 million) partnership between philanthropists Judy and Wil Matthews and Waterfront Toronto, which will manage and build it.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2016, with the initial phase of the project expected to be complete in 2017.

The video below provides an introduction to the project.

Source: Project: Under Gardiner

Project: Under Gardiner

View gallery - 3 images
3 comments
3 comments
Bob Flint
Does it include shelters for all the homeless vagrants, or skate parks for the doped-up junkies?
Where did they go?
Noise & pollution makes this a none starter, I have lived 4 years in Toronto and just because you build it, who has the time or inclination to leisure around under a highway?
By the way too much artificial sunlight in that rendering, it's dark dirty & gloomy decrepit buildings along much of the arteries along side, & under this area, knock everything down & plant trees, they will come...
stewartm0205
Urban space is always valuable. If too dark for a park then turn it into a market.
MattWaldron
Stewart,
When you use and open up a public space, it changes. Just like any urban area, you'll have panhandlers, etc. but its up to the city to decide how to deal with them. New York's High Line & Low Line designs show how the light issue can be dealt with. This central segment will allow for much easier and direct passage through neighborhoods too, cutting congestion. It's not suggesting 1.75 km solves everything, just that it makes the city more inviting, livable and open than just a dirty, unused stretch of concrete.