Reviewed by Anne Saint-Laurent

Green line launched in 2012 by the organization Architecture Workshop in Toronto, the competition Green Line Vision is part of the series of transactions rebates worth held for nearly a decade. This time, in a spirit of ideation, composite teams of designers and citizens were invited to freely imagine the landscape of the overhead power line that crosses the city of Toronto and the ground creates a potential linear green park, especially, to become. Competitors had to imagine an innovative use of space with a length of five kilometers in order to reveal the potential. The organizers anticipated the implementation of a program consisting of a pedestrian and cycle link between the districts located along the Green Line, and a series of community and recreational spaces (to be defined). Particular attention should be given to sustainable development and the need to complete the project in stages. In this regard, the formation of multidisciplinary teams was encouraged to make proposals balanced both in terms of urbanity, sustainability as logistics. By the competition of ideas in two parts (which we present the first in this update CCC), it was stated clearly that the ideas are not harvested immediately made, but they are assembled to form a catalog of possibilities accompanying Torontonians in a reflection on the future of urban space large scale. Among the 62 proposals received for the "Vision" section offer some course management solutions, in agreement with the basic expectations of the contest, but others have ventured on energy avenues or even profitability going far beyond the initial program. In almost all cases, however, the teams are tied to the development of a linear park. Remarkably, several projects are literally ignore the presence, yet imposing, electrical infrastructure, and not propose any particular purpose. In this category, we rank eg project Bradt, Wisniewski and Halladay, which proposes to build nature in the city and preserve the ecosystems of the site, without really addressing the power line. But we also see that the winning project, Gabriel Wulf, imagine, too, a very urban park planted with no real critical stance with regard to the presence of major electrical infrastructure as if it were than a simple garden. Development projects that have attempted to talk ave the "electric" and technological character of the place looking for new uses have generally sought to instill an atmosphere other as to give a specific character to the Green Line. This is the case of the proposal for Justin Hui, entitled Light Corridor, in which electricity is used to generate an urban experience through the installation of lighting devices, or the proposal Duarte Aznar, Marin Trejo, Gomez Arana, Estudillo Robleda Parra and Roca, entitled The Green Light, which projects light corridors created to link the neighborhoods of the city.Contrary to the jury, it may be on the side of the energy and financial solutions that needed to be addressed to find meaningful use and rich in ideas of this electrical infrastructure. The proposal Windmills Developments and Susan Spiegel Architects, Power Play, use electricity pylons to hang wind turbines and photovoltaic panels to generate clean electricity, the sale would provide the necessary funding to maintenance of urban park created on the Green Line. This kind of project is a real business plan without proposing development seems likely to enter the landscape project in an economic project. In awarding first, second and third prize, the jury altogether confirmed the importance of multidisciplinary teams, as it was mentioned in the program. It seems that the jury has long hesitated to seize the freedom offered by the same principle of competition idea. Should be given priority management solution for immediate use of Torontonians or financial solution leveraging the power infrastructure to enable a potential development project to achieve success? jury did not since sliced ??designated as winners three teams, offering to compose their solutions to form a single hybrid project. In this context, the proposal of Gabriel Wulf provided the overall plan and management strategy, focusing on the involvement of the Toronto community in the development of community spaces along the Green Line. The proposal Windmills Developments and Susan Spiegel Architects provided meanwhile the business plan to ensure the financial viability of the project, while the proposed Antti Auvinen, winner of the third prize, paradoxically provided the same form of the project to build. strange outcome for a contest of ideas as rich, testifying can be difficult to allow time for the debate even more than the imagination. Imposing competitor compose multidisciplinary teams early in the contest would he yielded better integrated solutions? Hard to say, but one thing is for sure, the opening of the competition to competitors from multiple disciplines will just raised on a multitude of issues showing, if necessary, the virtual line drawn by a competition program is also made to be exceeded by the projects.
 

About The Competition

Launched in December 2012 by Workshop Architecture based in Toronto, the Green Line Ideas Competition invites architects, landscape architects, urban planners, artists and community members to contribute to an overall vision for the public use of a 5km long hydro corridor from Davenport Village to the Annex.
With over 75 competition entries, the Green Line Ideas Competition aims to demonstrate the potential of the particular hydro corridor site and also to foster a discussion on public use of similar spaces in North American cities.
Engaging community members in an urban design process, the ideas competition is comprised of two competitions. Competition A asks the competitors to propose a vision for how a piece of infrastructure could be transformed into exemplary public space. The jury was looking for projects that

- Define a comprehensive vision for the Green Line across its varied territory;
- Identify design solutions to the challenge of providing a safe and continuous pedestrian and cycle connection across the full length of the Green Line. Suggestions for tying into Toronto?s cycling network would be welcomed;
- The Green Line should be considered as both a series of community spaces and a physical and psychological link across the city;
- As this corridor runs through neighbourhoods with low provision of park space, competitors are asked to consider how to make the most of the corridor space seven days a week throughout the year;
- Designs are encouraged to be sustainable and to provide a framework for different sections to be implemented over time.

On the other hand, competition B seeks for an improved design for the intersection and railway underpass at Dovercourt Road and Geary Avenue that could be a prototype for the eight underpasses along the Green Line route. Criteria for Competition B are:
- To provide a detailed design to improve pedestrian, cyclist and car-users? safety and mobility;
- To make an improved physical, visual and/or psychological connection for the Green Line;
- To create a design for this location that may also serve as a model for the other eight underpasses along the Green Line (circled in Map B);
- Designs for Competition B should be realistic and implementable. Solutions that can be realized for a modest budget may be preferred.

Ms. Helena Grdadolnik, associate director of Workshop Architecture and the competition organizer, sees the Green Line contest as a way to spark the public?s imagination and persuade the city to develop a master plan to guide future open-space investments. She states: «Imagine our electricity infrastructure as a Green Line; a continuous pedestrian and cycling link across the middle of the city and a public space and recreational amenity to the many neighbourhoods across Toronto that it link

Jury

Evan Castel,Candidat Phd

Diana Gerrard,Architecte de paysage

Joe Lobko,Architecte

Shawn Micallef,Editor

Netami Stuart,Architecte de paysage

In order to see winners and competitors,please visit website

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