1st Front St West: Past, Present & Future (2021, Unfinshed)

Cities like Toronto keep changing and evolving all the time. We often see constructions, renovations, and demolitions going on all around the city – from the neighbourhoods where we live, to the downtown core, or some places that we unconsciously pass by every day. However, how to better evoke community engagements in future development projects remains a question, since we are probably not familiar with most of these places.

Here, 1st Front St West: Past, Present & Future deconstructs the ubiquitous “Notice of Proposed Development Application and Public Meeting” sign that is required by the City of Toronto, and extends the depth of the sign further with the humanistic storytelling and the interactive component. I think there is no right or wrong between preserving the architecture’s original form or leaping into a futuristic design, although we often see this kind of debate with future urban developments. The urban environment is designed for humans; thus I believe sharing the stories from real people who engage(d) with the location on a daily basis would discover a case-by-case answer for the debate above. However, storytelling is a component that does not exist on the current public notice sign. For such a random, mediocre building that is over 80 years old standing at the crossroad of transformation, I hope audiences may find a connection to it from people’s stories, build their unique, critical understanding of any future developments in the city through the viewing experience, and share their perspectives on those developments with the developers or planners.