About this Event
It’s the park everyone has been talking about!
For our next landscape tour, we’re excited to explore and learn the stories behind Biidaasige Park—Toronto’s largest park in a generation—in a walk led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., the landscape architects behind this extraordinary space.
Part of Waterfront Toronto’s Port Lands Flood Protection project, Biidaasige Park demonstrates how cities can integrate flood protection, ecological restoration, and public space into one connected vision. Covering 60 acres, including 10 new acres which opened earlier this summer, the park sculpts a restored river valley through former industrial land where the Don River flows into Lake Ontario, introducing wetlands, trails, beaches, play areas, direct water access, and sweeping views of the Toronto skyline to a long-inaccessible stretch of the waterfront. The park is one of the largest nature-based restoration projects in North America and one of the most ambitious climate adaptation projects in Canadian history.
During this tour MVVA representatives will lead participants through the renaturalized river and floodplain, Nature Play Area, Canoe Cove, Harbour Esplanade and Promontory while elaborating on research, design, and technical approaches that steered major features of the project.
Want to understand the bigger picture? Join us and Waterfront Toronto on Wednesday, October 14 at 6:00PM for a urban-design focused tour of the island where we will discuss the future neighbourhood that will connect to the park.
TSA Member Priority Access: This tour is 50% off for TSA Members using the promo code found in the latest TSA Bulletin or on the Member Dashboard. TSA Members also receive early access to tickets on Friday, September 18 at 9:00 AM. Spots remaining will then be made available to the public on September 23 at 9:00 AM.
TSA Member discounts are non-transferable and can only be used by TSA Members in good standing. Not a member yet? and get access to free, discounted, and exclusive member programming.
OAA Members: This tour is eligible for 1.5 OAA Structured Learning Hours. When registering, please include your full name as registered with the OAA to ensure your certificate of participation is credited properly. Please also include an email address you check frequently to ensure you receive our certificate in a timely manner.
Photo by Richard Seck (above) and Andrew Williamson (below), courtesy of MVVA.
From the Landscape Architects: Biidaasige Park
For thousands of years the Don River flowed into Lake Ontario through one of the largest freshwater marshes in the Great Lakes region. The marsh was rich in flora and fauna and an important meeting place for indigenous peoples. But beginning in the 19th century, this vital ecosystem and traditional First Nations territory was altered beyond recognition by industrial activity. Large sections were drained and filled to create the Port Lands, an enclave that included docks and warehouses along with facilities for petroleum storage, concrete production, and animal rendering. To accommodate these new uses, the mouth of the river itself was forced into a 60-foot-wide channel, which became so polluted that the Don was eventually declared “dead.” Then in 1954, Hurricane Hazel left much of Toronto underwater, making flood control measures essential. Starting with a public forum in 1989, the federal, provincial, and city governments began making plans to renaturalize the mouth of the Don. In 2007, Waterfront Toronto, representing the three levels of government, invited four firms to compete for the commission. MVVA’s winning proposal called for retaining the existing channel while creating a new river valley capable of carrying large volumes of stormwater out to Lake Ontario.
Around the renaturalized river, some 330 acres of newly recovered land, including a large new island called Ookwemin Minising, has become a mix of public parkland collectively called Biidaasige Park, restored habitat, and mixed-use development designed in accordance with leading-edge sustainability and smart growth principles.
Since 2007, MVVA has led both the design and execution of this large, complex, and environmentally sensitive engineering project. Some 35 MVVA employees have worked with dozens of consultants in fields as varied as hydrology, ecology, geology, soil remediation, lighting, and industrial and indigenous heritage conservation. The design sets a global precedent for the transformation of flood-prone, post-industrial wastelands into resilient, ecologically rich, and socially inclusive urban districts.
Benefitting from the beauty of the restored riparian environment, the project will also permit expansion of the public realm. Gaps in bike trails will be mended, expanding opportunities for nonmotorized travel between existing parks and neighborhoods. New parklands will allow Torontonians to immerse themselves in the urban waterfront.
Learn more about this project here.
About TSA Building Tours
Designed for architects by architects, the TSA Building Tours offer unique behind-the-scenes access to recently completed or under construction buildings across the GTA. Led by the team behind their design, these tours provide an opportunity to hear the stories behind the architecture and learn about the challenges and successes in ideating and realizing the vision for the building.
Event venue & nearby stays
Waterfront Neighbourhood Space (just east of Old Fire Hall 30), 39 Commissioners St, Toronto, Canada
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.