Currently on show at Toronto’s Urbanspace Gallery is a compelling exhibition on Ontario Place and its future. Ontario Place was designed in the late 1960s by Eberhard Zeidler and launched in 1971 as a spectacular architectural innovation that attempted to rethink our relationship to the lake.
Earlier this year the Government of Ontario announced that the site would be closed, studied, and eventually revitalized. It has generated much media and public discussion and is now the subject of an exhibition at Urbanspace Gallery. The exhibition features rich information on the site’s history, fascinating images and architectural models of both Ontario Place and Zeidler’s late 1960s proposal “Harbour City,” as well as interesting speculation on some possible futures for Ontario Place (courtesy of ERA’s Lara Herald).
The exhibition is timely, as just recently an advisory panel led by John Tory released an official report advocating for a revitalization strategy that would preserve a large amount of parkland and bring year-round use to this site, featuring opportunities to “live, work, and play.”
Many of the ideas in the report have great potential, including a recommendation to respect the architecture of the famous Cinesphere and “pods.” ERA supports this position and wishes to advocate further for a detailed heritage assessment of all site architecture and landscaping.
