Microclimate of Winter Public Spaces
November 29, 2023
2023 Public Space Fellow Celeste Davis Meledath underscores the potential of our communal spaces to be hubs for innovative experimentation. ‘Microclimate Of Winter Public Spaces’ examines how public spaces interact with our evolving climate and offers design directives to enhance natural integration and ensure community safety.
Climate Emotions with Nocturnal Medicine
September 5, 2023
Last month, artist duo Nocturnal Medicine welcomed hundreds of guests to the Bentway for “Earth Dreams,” a summer party for climate grief and urgency. Here are some other recent reflections we’re turning to on how people are processing their responses to major environmental changes. The Bentway’s Beyond Concrete summer season explores the urban ecosystem beneath […]
Flora and fauna of the urban ecosystem under the Gardiner
September 1, 2023
Zunaid Khan, nature photographer and president of the Toronto Field Naturalists, gets up close and personal to capture the flora and fauna of the dynamic natural world living under the Gardiner Expressway.
The future of architecture and building with Kelly Alvarez Doran
August 15, 2023
In this conversation with Kelly Alvarez Doran, he speaks about how he came to focus on sustainability in architecture, the design work he did in Africa, the challenges to sustainability in North America posed by construction-industry habits, and how we can begin lowering the embodied carbon in our cities. The Bentway’s Beyond Concrete summer season […]
“Groundcover”: Transforming Archival Gardiner Photos
August 8, 2023
Brooklyn-based artist Genesis Báez gives us a closer look at Groundcover, her contribution to Beyond Concrete, and the process of its creation. The installation features archival images of the Gardiner Expressway that Baéz re-photographed and buried in the soil beneath the highway. This summer, we’re publishing a series of essays, interviews, and other stories that explore the […]
Filling In: Anjulie Rao on “vacant” urban lands
July 27, 2023
Anjulie Rao explores the cultural and historical value, agency, and stewardship of Chicago’s vacant land in this personal essay. The Bentway’s Beyond Concrete summer season explores the urban ecosystem beneath the Gardiner Expressway, where human-made infrastructure intertwines with flora and fauna. The relationship between concrete and nature is complex and interconnected. In this story series, […]
The Ecology of Concrete: An Interview with Matthew Gandy
July 18, 2023
Beyond Concrete guest editor Brian Sholis talks with Matthew Gandy, author of Natura Urbana, about the ecology of concrete, engineered versus spontaneous landscapes, and the politics of design language. The Bentway’s Beyond Concrete summer season explores the urban ecosystem beneath the Gardiner Expressway, where human-made infrastructure intertwines with flora and fauna. The relationship between concrete and […]
Cheonggyecheon: Rip It Up and Start Again
June 28, 2023
After a massive public-works project in the 2000s, a stream once again flows through Seoul. In this personal essay, Andrew Russeth admires Cheonggyecheon, a 10.9km long stream and modern public recreation space in downtown Seoul, South Korea.
Exploring public space in Sāo Paulo
June 15, 2023
Felipe Morozini, president of the Parque Minhocão community association, shares the challenges of creating vibrant public spaces in Sāo Paulo. This summer, we’re publishing a series of essays, interviews, and other stories that explore the themes in our Beyond Concrete season, highlighting local and global projects that centre interconnectedness. This story is inspired by Clarice Lima’s project Woods, […]
The Benchway: Salvaged Materials in Public Space
June 12, 2023
2023 Bentway Public Space Fellow Ella Hough considers the role public space could play in promoting deconstruction and material reuse. By tracing the history of the salvaged lumber used to make one public bench, The Benchway: Salvaged Materials in Public Space tells the story of ancestral forests, Toronto’s 20th century development, the changes that led […]
Dive Deeper into Beyond Concrete: Editor’s Letter
June 6, 2023
Brian Sholis, guest editor, introduces our new Beyond Concrete story series, and frames this series of essays and interviews that will roll out all summer long. Listen to this story Cliché has it that the city is a “concrete jungle.” But in the popular imagination, concrete prevails. Downtown is a place of stone and glass; full […]
In Conversation with Leeroy New
June 6, 2023
Beyond Concrete artist Leeroy New and Montreal-based artist Kelly Jazvac connect about the practice, poetry, and production of public art. Listen to this story Brian Sholis: The Bentway has invited me to guest edit an online publication related to “Beyond Concrete,” its summer 2023 programming season, and I’m pleased to be introducing an interview between Leeroy […]