All Paths Lead Here, Toronto, Canada
The Winter Stations competition seeks to build temporary art installations at Woodbine Beach in Toronto’s waterfront Landscape. Our proposal, ‘All Paths Lead Here’, is conceived as an interactive installation that invites visitors to go on personal and isolated journeys, that eventually merge together and dissolve boundaries of culture and geography.
Four circular rings of 3-meter tall columns form a circular labyrinth with multiple paths and dead ends, creating an inner world of adventure, contemplation and reflection. While each visitor embarks on their own journey, the 10-cm spacing between columns provides glimpses of other visitors, promoting a sense of human presence while in isolation. As the visitor meanders and finds their way, they eventually end up at the center of the installation, where they reach the viewing platform (the existing lifeguard stand). On top of the viewing platform, the visitor is provided with a 360 panorama view of the installation, allowing them to see the path they just took, as well as seeing all the other visitors who are still on their journeys.
The ground surface within the installation is covered in sand that is stained in red, but as more and more visitors leave footprints, the snow underneath slowly reveals itself, tracing and documenting every visitor’s movement. From the outside, the pavilion appears as a forest of slender red columns with glimpses of constant movement of the people within.
‘All Paths Lead here’ is a hybrid between art and architecture, urging visitors to embark on journeys where they can reflect and remember their own personal history of migrating to this country, and commemorate on how they have now found their place here.
Welcome Home.
Location: Toronto, Canada
Client: Winter Stations Inc.
Year: 2018
Scope: Competition
Program: Installation
Team: Kelvin Ho, Nicolas Lee
