[Community_garden] Former Brickyard into Green Space

[Moonshae]

$55-million plan to transform former Toronto brickyard
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 | 12:20 PM ET
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2007/11/20/brick-works.html? 
ref=rss

The site design for Toronto's Brick Works, a unique project that  
involves restoring nature in the city while incorporating heritage  
buildings and an art component, was unveiled Tuesday.

There are 16 old industrial buildings on the Brick Works site in  
Toronto's Don Valley.
(du Toit Allsopp Hillier)
Evergreen, a non-profit group devoted to developing greener cities,  
has approved a $55-million plan for the 16-hectare site — a former  
quarry and the Don Valley Brick Works, which provided millions of  
bricks in the 19th and 20th centuries to build Toronto.

Seven design firms, including landscape planner du Toit Allsopp  
Hillier and architects Diamond and Schmitt collaborated on the plan,  
which involves transforming 16 aging industrial buildings formerly  
used to make bricks.

Those buildings are currently "a giant swath of asphalt," according  
to Joe Lobko, a partner with duToit Allsopp Hillier and lead designer  
on the project.

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"The first thing we have to do is heal the site and create a range of  
outdoor public spaces," Lobko said.

Part of the quarry has been restored by Evergreen over the past 10  
years and the usable green spaces on the site are to be expanded.

There is almost no precedent for this kind of transformation of an  
urban industrial site into green space within a city, said Evergreen  
executive director Geoff Cape.

"It is unique in the world. I don't know of anything that explores  
green cities like we do," he said.

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announces funding of $20  
million for Evergreen at the Brick Works last December.
(Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)
Evergreen has won $20 million from Ottawa and $10 million from the  
province for this project and is still fundraising for the remainder.

The first phase of the project also involves transforming two of the  
brickyard buildings for use in nature interpretation, historical  
displays and as a play area.

Also part of the plan is a Diamond + Schmitt redesign for one of the  
buildings as headquarters for Evergreen and a community building for  
meetings and conferences.

The architects have devoted one façade of the building for treatment  
by artists.

Cape said he drew inspiration from Barcelona in incorporating art  
into the project. "I was blown away by how art is woven into the  
city," he said.

"The façade of the building will be a giant art piece — a tapestry of  
screens that is constantly changing," he said.

Evergreen foresees incorporating everything from children's drawings  
to fabric art to multimedia works by internationally known artists  
into the outer wall of the building.

Toronto's Gardiner Museum of Ceramics is among those taking space in  
the building, possibly to provide studios for working with clay, the  
original material taken from the quarry.

The complex plan for the site, which could be ready by 2010, involves:

A seasonal farmers market, which began operation this past summer.
Community gardens.
Local food merchants and ethnic foods.
A restaurant.
A place to study geological and natural history.
A children's play centre.
Community conference facilities and meeting areas.