BID Projects – Toronto Metropolitan University

• ARIDO May 10, 2023
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We are thrilled to continue our celebration of the class of 2023 from Ontario ARIDO-recognized schools this year. This is our third year of posting graduating student work on BLOG//ARIDO and we are pleased to share their accomplishments with the ARIDO community and beyond.

 ARIDO has worked with these schools to promote a selection of 4th year BID student work on BLOG//ARIDO and will be posting the work each Wednesday during May and June.

Douglas Chun - Nature In The Sky

There is a dearth of nearby green space in large urban cities like downtown Toronto. What if we created an intervention placed between 2 or more structures that become an elevated horizontal green space? The intervention for this site uses 2 web-like forms that span across skyscrapers within the vicinity, repurposing this empty vertical space between the buildings into a new horizontal space. The 2 storey green space will include a walking/running track, a cafe, and other amenities, allowing the public to relax and get a breath of fresh air in the city.

Simcha Shore - Recycled Can Light

Made from discarded tin cans, the Recycled Can Light Collection aims to leave a positive mark on our environment. Both literally, by diverting waste from landfill and offering it as an alternative to conventional lights made of new materials. And figuratively, by demonstrating that new life can be given to things instead of tossing them away.

Max Zandboer - Scanned N14 Chair

Using the processes of scanning and 3D printing, I reproduced a 1:1 scale model of a Thonet N14 chair. I was interested in using this chair because it is a recognizable piece of design that would make the impacts of its technological processing evident.

Through scanning and printing, the original design language of the chair became severely altered. The objects’ new identity acts as a means of addressing the gaps in communication that occur between digital and physical spaces.

Colin Cameron - Urban Room on the Beltline Trail

“Toronto For Free” is an initiative to search for and study publicly accessible spaces used as “urban interiors.” These spaces offer a sense of interiority and possess the qualities of a room within our exterior urban landscape.

Located on the Beltline Trail, within the piers of a concrete train bridge, is my proposed “urban room.” My design intervention consists of two main moves – an entrance and a fireplace. The infill fireplace spans between the columns, enclosing one side of the “urban room.” Heat creates contrast in temperature, enclosing those around, which creates a sense of interiority with the absence of walls.

Brick pays homage to the history of the site, Don River Valley. By utilizing the foundation and pile caps of the substructure and arches, I can support heavy loads of brick which is essential to achieve the large scale of my infills. I hope to create an “urban room” that lasts 100 years and ages through time.

Shuning Xie - SEEING AND NON-SEEING

Telling a story should be more than just the visual aspect. Spatial Design should be concerned with all aspects of narrative or expression. Blindness is a 2008 English-language thriller movie, adapted from José Saramago's novel Blindness.

One segment of the film deliberately shows a man who was originally blind and compares his behavior to that of other people who are suddenly blind. This perspective not only emphasizes the difference in lifestyle between blind and suddenly blind people but also further suggests the root cause of the difference in understanding and perceiving things between seeing and non-seeing.

Therefore, I used this idea as an entry point for research and creative practice in this study. Using the institutional interior (from the movie) as an entry point, inspired by the Chinese children’s book Seven Blind Mice, the interior is deconstructed through the sense of touch, the way non-seeing people perceive the world, to create a liminal space.

Payton Parker - Domestic Mania

Over the past few years, we have been confined to our homes, bringing a new meaning and importance to our personal space. Our homes contain our entire life: where we sleep, work, and play. One’s personal space is a reflection of the mind. It is easy to get lost and overwhelmed, especially within the consumerist world we live in today and the frenzied media that accompanies it. The way a person manages their space represents their thoughts feelings and emotions.