DOWN NORTH
Rees Street Park, Toronto, Ontario
Of the forty multi-national design teams who submitted during the pre-qualification stage of the competition, PUBLIC CITY was one of five shortlisted teams selected to participate in an international design competition for REES Street Park in Toronto. DOWN NORTH takes its inspiration from the land found just up from the water’s edge, the hinterland, where the Great Lakes’ forests have provided shelter and livelihood for centuries of human habitation.
The park features all-season toboggan chutes with a lookout tower, a public pavilion, a forest walk, a firepit, snow fireworks, mist makers, a container market space, and lighting that makes the urban forest a magical place to be all year. It is a wildlife habitat, a carbon sink, a water filter, and a cooling refuge from the summer heat and sun. With a programmed urban forest park that is about our resilient approach to seasonal adaption, the design of the park celebrates our connection to the land and tells stories about how we have lived and how we will live within our northern urban landscape.
