Amongst the Trees
How to Design Almost Anything
Spring 2024, Studio
Site: Queen's Park
Project Brief
Informed by Queens Park's historical conflict between its character as a site for political activity and a site for relaxation, in large part due to the imposing presence of the Ontario Legislative Building, this proposal aims to support the usage of the park as a space for mental repose, tranquility and calmness. Users are encouraged to engage in quiet, intimate conversations with themselves, or in small numbers, enhanced by the intervention's separation from the surrounding urban environment.
Form
This proposal aims to emulate the density of a natural forest amongst the existing flat topography through the introduction of pollinator-friendly shrubbery.
Programmatic Rationale
The organization of the interior space is a distillation of typographic characteristics observed through the study of existing listening rooms. Depending on the intended purpose of the space, different forms of furniture can be installed to enhance its usage as a conversational, personal, or ampitheatrical space.
A second module is proposed in order to provide a greater sensorial experience. Utilizing a similar design language to the first intervention, the columns in this intervention are instead made of thin aluminum pipes which are intended to create musical sounds when struck. Combined with the fragrant scents of flowering bushes, these columns, scattered randomly and at different heights throughout the module, would create an interactive sensory garden.
The proposed interventions are to be scattered intentionally into quiet, empty areas around the park, enhancing their usages as sites of relaxation and acting as pockets of quiet space.
This intervention can be proposed for parks across Toronto, unifying its green spaces under a single common design language. However, further individual site studies must be conducted to ensure the appropriateness of such an intervention across various parks and their unique cultural environments. Various modules can feature circular labyrinthine paths, larger sunken spaces, or smaller single-person areas.