WASTE STREAMS
Lydia Rosenthal Qualifying Review / Winter 2024 Studio Clifford
Architecture to Engage a Post-Natural River TORONTO RIVER LANDSCAPE
TRACES OF GARRISON CREEK + SEWER
Interactions of the Former Creek and Current Sewer in Downtown Toronto
Symbolic Form Connecting the Natural/Articial and the Past/Present
20m
Protected, Lost, and Sewer Rivers in the City
POINTS OF MEDIATION
A
Don Watershed
Bo
+ +
Slant Emphasizes Edge of Old Ravine
A
++
Mimico Watershed
Lost Rivers
+ B ++ +
View to Baseball Fields
Greenhouse
Wastewater Station + Outdoor Recreation 2.25m
10m
City
++ +
Rouge River Watershed
Humber Watershed
ry unda
View of Other Stations
2.5m
15m
Duffins Watershed
CamScanner
Low Profile At Street Level
Garrison Creek/Sewer
Harbord St. Bridge Exposed
5m
Cavernous, Cathedral Experience
B
Etobicoke Watershed
10m
15m
20m
25m
30m 2.0m
5m
C
FROM RIVER TO SEWER
Historical Pressures Shaping the Form of Garrison Creek
Wastewater Station + Buried Bridge Exhibit
+ + +
CamScanner
++ Framing Street
To K-12 Schools
ON ULATI POP
O OF T
+
1.75m
2.8 mil NTO RO
+
+
To Playground and Wading Pool
C
D
Wastewater Station + Childhood Education
CamScanner
1.5m
+
1750
1800
1850
First Sawmill in Local River Ravines
Fort York and Town of York Established (later Toronto)
Harbord St. and Crawford St. Bridge Construction
Garrison Creek Sewer Construction
1950 Ravines Legally Protected After Hurricane Hazel Flooding
Inhabitable Screen (for Animals and Humans!)
2000 Unrealized Proposals to Daylight Garrison Creek
++
Continued Use of Garrison Creek Sewer for Waste and Storm Runoff
E
+
Ravine Remnant Restored
D
+
Boundaries Blurred
Wastewater Station + Habitat Restoration
1.0m
Fort Rouille Trading Post
1900
1.25m
1700
+ +
+
CamScanner
+
F
0.75m
Communal Gathering
E
To Public Pool Facility
Compact Footprint
CamScanner
0.5m
Wastewater Station + Public Water Facilites
ork ort Y te To F rical Si to His
0.25m
Lake View Interpolating Slope
F 0.25m
FORM GENERATION
0.5m
Searching for a Flexible Formal Vocabulary
PHASE 01: RAVINE HABITAT ca. 10,000 BC - 1973
PHASE 02: WATERWAY DEGRADATION 1793 - 1884
PHASE 03: SEWER 1884 - Present
Rivers like Garrison Creek support the movement of people and animals, enabling the vibrant Indigenous culture and economy, as well as emerging fur trade along the Great Lakes. They also provide vital habitat for native species.
Toronto’s booming population leads to rampant pollution of Garrison Creek, as well as its use as a recreation site. Several bridges are built across it, while the slopes are logged for housing. The stench from the area grows.
Over the course of 35 years, the city converts Garrison Creek to a large, enclosed sewer running along the Creek’s old path. The combined sewer is still in heavy use today, and the sound of rushing water can be heard at times.
0.75m
1.0m
1.25m
1.5m
1.75m
2.0m
Wastewater Station + City Ecological Archive