Winter Stations 2024 to feature installations along Woodbine Beach and in parks on Queen Street East
Winter Stations has announced the nine art installations that will be part of its 10th annual exhibition this year in the Beach.
Seven of this year’s installations are new and six of them will be displayed along Woodbine Beach. The other new installation joins two others that are coming back from 2023 to help celebrate the 10th anniversary; and they will be displayed along Queen Street East at Woodbine Park, Kew Gardens park and Ivan Forest Gardens park.
The official opening ceremony for Winter Stations will be on Family Day (Monday, Feb. 19) along Woodbine Beach. The installations will remain on display until the end of March.
“Over the past 10 years of Winter Stations, we’ve created incredible works of art that have moved people in incredibly meaningful ways during a season that can feel gloomy otherwise,” said RAW Design architect Dakota Wares-Tani in a news release announcing Winter Stations 2024.
“We hope that the impact of bringing bright and joyful stations to Toronto’s east end continues to resonate.”
Winter Stations began in 2015 as a way to highlight the beauty of the Eastern Beaches and make them a destination point for outdoor art installations during the winter. The artworks are set up at the lifeguard stations along Woodbine Beach, and each year an international competition receives entries connected to that year’s Winter Stations’ theme. The founders of Winter Stations are RAW Design, Ferris + Associates and Curio.
The theme for Winter Stations 2024 was Resonance. Designers were asked to embark on “a journey of reinvention and imagination to breathe new life into the echoes of the past by recreating, reimagining and reinventing cherished installations from Winter Stations history” in their submissions.
Entries from international design teams as well as Ontario universities and colleges are received, and a jury selects the winning entries that become part of the installation. Jury members for 2024 were Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford; Paul Bieksa of The Beach BIA; Nellie Jalalzadeh, artist, designer and public space researcher; Aaron Hendershott, an architect at RAW Design and one of the founders of Winter Stations; Shaz Nasiri, a graduate of OCAD University with a Bachelor of Design, a grad of the University of Toronto’s John A. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design with a Master of Architecture; and Mateus Nowacki, an architect with Montgomery Sisam Architects.
For 2024, the winning designs are one from Croatia/Australia; and six from Canada. Included in the six new installations for Woodbine Beach are designs from the University of Guelph; Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Waterloo.
The six new Installations along Woodbine Beach will be Bobbin’; We Caught a UFO; A KALEIDOSCOPIC ODYSSEY; Nova; WINTERACTION; and NIMBUS.
For Queen Street East, the new installation is Making Waves. The returning 2023 installations which will be set up along Queen Street East are CONRAD (the raccoon); and Delighthouse.
Here are the six installations which will be displayed along Woodbine Beach starting on the Family Day long weekend:
We Caught a UFO! by Xavier Madden and Katja Banovic, Croatia and Australia.
The installation We Caught a UFO! builds upon the past installation In the Belly of a Bear, which utilized the lifeguard chair by lifting the public above ground into a cozy space, transporting them into a new world. “We Caught a UFO! reimagines these qualities by referencing the rumours and whispers of the many UFO sightings across Lake Ontario. However, these rumours can no longer be disputed, as there is now physical proof! Caught under a net, the UFO is wrapped in glued aluminum foil which glimmers in the light, contrasting its surroundings as a foreign object. The public (especially kids) are encouraged to explore the UFO and climb up into the main space where pink plexi windows transform the beach into a new tinted landscape or planet! Ultimately, We Caught a UFO! is an installation which stimulates the public’s imagination while also providing a necessary shelter from the wind and cold.”
We Caught a UFO! by Xavier Madden and Katja Banovic, Croatia and Australia.
A KALEIDOSCOPIC ODYSSEY, by Brander Architects Inc. (Adam Brander, Nilesh P., Ingrid Garcia and Maryam Emadzadeh), Canada.
The installation invites onlookers to step into an experience in which they are challenged as to where reality ends and imagination begins. “Explore the limitless depths of perception with this mesmerizing adaptation of Kaleidoscope of the Senses (Winter Stations 2020). In this installation, there are two guiding concepts. The scale of the traditional kaleidoscope is magnified 84 times to a human scale so participants can inhabit the instrument and become part of its wonder. Where a kaleidoscope is commonly a closed-loop system, this device is deliberately severed into two sculptured equal and opposite parts, with purposeful space between them.”
A KALEIDOSCOPIC ODYSSEY, by Brander Architects Inc. (Adam Brander, Nilesh P., Ingrid Garcia and Maryam Emadzadeh), Canada.
NIMBUS by David Stein, Canada.
This installation was inspired by the Floating Ropes installation (Winter Stations 2016). “NIMBUS’ playful shapes and colours do more than just resonate with its predecessor. NIMBUS evolves the concept and materials by adding saturated blue ropes hanging below a bubbly white structure. The station asks visitors to consider the presence and absence of rain in our contemporary world by referencing both severe storms and flooding, as well as concerning trends of lack of rain, drought and desertification.”
Bobbin’ is by the University of Waterloo School of Architecture team of Max Perry, Jason Cai, Kenneth Siu, Simon, Peiris, Yoon Hur, Angeline Reyes, Oluwatobila Babalola, Yiqing Liu, Kenyo Musa, and Ali Hasan.
This installation invites the visitor to a place where pivotal moments and whimsical memories prompt reflection. “It shelters visitors with slats that create an ever-changing threshold between the bobbing zone and the surrounding beach.” The seesaws draw from the playground-like Sling Swing and Lifeline installations of Winter Stations past, while its form within the landscape draws from the Hotbox and Introspection installations. “Each material has been sourced from previous student projects in addition to salvaged materials from the community of Cambridge. As you navigate through, bobbing up and down, a fresh perspective unfolds, encouraging resonance with the surrounding and past Winter Stations.”
Bobbin’ is by the University of Waterloo School of Architecture team of Max Perry, Jason Cai, Kenneth Siu, Simon, Peiris, Yoon Hur, Angeline Reyes, Oluwatobila Babalola, Yiqing Liu, Kenyo Musa, and Ali Hasan.
Nova, by the Toronto Metropolitan University – Department of Architectural Science team of Jake Levy, Emily Lensin, Luca Castellan, and Nathaniel Barry.
“Beneath the night sky, stars shine and create geometric patterns. Nova is a star that has crashed on top of a lifeguard station and illuminates Woodbine Beach throughout the night,” said the designers’ description. “Nova highlights TMU’s past decade of Winter Stations, inspired by the origami, materiality, and form of Snowcone, Lithoform and S’Winter Station. Nova introduces 3D printing, a textile canopy, and an elegant steel pipe connection to create a pavilion with ‘Resonance’. The star pavilion shields users and encourages them to engage with their surroundings, and the lifeguard station makes a beacon for users to access panoramic views of the beach.”
Nova, by the Toronto Metropolitan University – Department of Architectural Science team of Jake Levy, Emily Lensin, Luca Castellan, and Nathaniel Barry.
WINTERACTION, by the University of Guelph – Department of Landscape Architecture team of Afshin Ashari, Ali Ebadi, Jacob Farrish, Cameron Graham, Ngoc Huy Pham, Ramtin Shafaghati, and Zackary Tammaro-Cater; and the Ashari Architects team of Amir Ashari, Sara Nazemi, Anahita Kazempour, Hakimeh Elahi, Yasaman Sirjani and Zahra Jafari. WINTERACTION is a dual installation in Iran and Canada.
This installation is inspired by the past Winter Stations installations of OneCanada and WE(AR). WINTERACTION dual installation “fosters solidarity and interaction between the two nations” of Canada and Iran. “Vistors are invited on an introspective journey through a labyrinth, symbolizing a complex and challenging quest, leading from confusion to enlightenment, to reach inner peace.” The installation features a tree at its centre that “emerges as a symbol of peace and alliance, evolving dynamically with visitor interactions at both locations. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Winter Stations, WINTERACTION transcends mere social interaction, integrating into Canada’s diverse cultural tapestry. This project champions human connections across borders, advocating for shared experiences, peace and friendship.”
WINTERACTION, by the University of Guelph – Department of Landscape Architecture team of Afshin Ashari, Ali Ebadi, Jacob Farrish, Cameron Graham, Ngoc Huy Pham, Ramtin Shafaghati, and Zackary Tammaro-Cater; and the Ashari Architects team of Amir Ashari, Sara Nazemi, Anahita Kazempour, Hakimeh Elahi, Yasaman Sirjani and Zahra Jafari.
The three installations that will be set up along Queen Street East are:
Making Waves by Adria Maynard and Purvangi Patel, Canada.
This whimsical installation is piece of furniture that represents the ways that simple actions can ripple outward to “resonate” across time and space. “The installation takes the form of an exaggerated couch, forming an unusual urban living room where neighbours can gather, play and sit together by the water.” It was inspired by “kinetic sculptures and whirligigs” and is composed of a series of parts that “dance” when cranks are turned. “Wooden slats act as a rippling bench that rocks and moves those who are sitting., and vertical poles tipped with glowing globes bob in the air to signal people from afar. Making Waves pays homage to the 10 years of Winter Stations and the ways that public art can foster shared delight, contemplation, and play that brings together strangers and friends in public space.”
Making Waves by Adria Maynard and Purvangi Patel, Canada.
CONRAD, by Novak Djogo and Daniel Joshua Vanderhorst, Canada.
One of the most popular displays of Winter Stations 2023, this installation is a statue of raccoon. “Conrad was the name of a raccoon that died on the corner of Yonge and Church in the summer of 2015. And though Conrad was just a raccoon, he was human enough to inspire compassion and warmth in the hearts of Torontonians. This is a monument in his honour,” said the designers. Along with being displayed at Winter Stations last year, CONRAD was also featured during the Nuit Blanche celebrations along Danforth Avenue in the fall of 2023 with an installation in the Robertson Parkette.
The Conrad installation is shown on Woodbine Beach during the winter of 2023. Photo by Alan Shackleton.
Delighthouse, by Nick Green and Greig Pirrie, United Kingdom.
Also a popular installation from Winter Stations 2023, Delighthouse is inspired by coastal lighthouse across Canada and beyond. Delighthouse is a self-assured landmark guiding visitors to approach,” said the designers. “While traditionally lighthouses are warnings, this installation is a welcoming beacon of hope, fun, energy, and pride. The confident and colourful pattern, evoking a sense of play, casts onto ground panels radiating out from the tower to embrace visitors. Scaled to house the lifeguard stand, the tower is clad in painted timber boards. Structurally, eight tapered timber frames lean inwards, joined to form the tower, with strength derived from each part coming together as a whole.”
Delighthouse is shown on Woodbine Beach during the Winter Stations 2023. Photo by Alan Shackleton.
At this point in time, it has not been finalized as to which park along Queen Street East will be displaying which installation.
Sponsors for Winter Stations 2024 are The Beach BIA, RAW Design, Northcrest Developments, CreateTO, Sali Tabachi Branding and Design, Meevo Digital, and Micro Pro Sienna.
For more information, please visit https://winterstations.com/
