Incision
Architectural Design Studio 2 introduced questions of scale and program on a challenging site: Toronto’s historic RC Harris Water Filtration Plant. The challenge heightened awareness not only around our proposed architectural interventions, but around infrastructure, environmental systems, and their relationship to time and urban growth.
Research and site visits unearthed a rich story behind this historic facility and its relationship to Toronto. Built in 1934, this nicknamed “Palace of Purification” was constructed with the future in mind, and still supplies 45% of Toronto’s drinking water. At the time it sat on the edge of town, but today it’s art-deco buildings and landscaped hills remain barren and unvisited amidst a quickly urbanizing surrounding.
The resulting proposed Water Education and Recreation Center seeks to reactivate the historic site with surgical precision in respectful celebration of its functional beauty, both visible and hidden. Thus an incision is made, connecting busy Queen St. East to the site’s hidden landscape and sweeping southern views over Lake Ontario through a series of programmatic experiences. Viewers follow the journey of the water; they catch glimpses of the historic still-operating machinery through a sequence of curatorial slices, lifts, and burrows through the landscape and facility; and they end their journey at Lake Ontario.
