For the birds is a juried Design Competition and Summer Showcase exhibition that culminates with the Flocktail Party awards celebration at Toronto Botanical Garden. - from the Toronto Botanical Garden Website
Why just one house? For the Purple Martin, grouped housing is both desired
and an interesting design constraint; or an opportunity. This birdhouse
concept provides residences for many family units, and emulates the birds·
natural habitat and context in a sustainable fashion.
Each unit is a box within a box, the outer shell acting as rain screen and
predator protection. Openings in the bottom of the house allow for drainage
and ventilation . Ventilation holes are sized to be predator-resistant and the
main entry is crescent-shaped to deter starlings. The back panel pulls out
like a drawer to make cleaning easy. To minimize the human impact on the
environment we propose to reuse construction waste, rather than new
materials, for our Purple Martin community. Salvaged materials minimize the
impact on ecology and costs. The small dimensions of the house make most
construction scrap large enough to accommodate the design dimensions.
The "branches" could be almost any reclaimed material: broom handles,
fence poles, re-bar, etc. To further minimize the environmental impact of our
design, a tripod of salvaged steel or wood poles forms the base of the "tree"
which sits lightly upon the landscape. It will tilt over and down for cleaning
and maintenance. This base could be long fence posts, or flagpoles. Sourcing materials from recyclers at the time of construction would determine exact materials for our flexible design. This compact community from recycled materials decreases the overall impact on the
environment, without sacrificing aesthetics or function.
Engaging Youth in Design...hmm....sounds challenging. Engaging youth from one of Toronto's priority neighborhoods to not only conceptualize, but design, draw, and steward the creation of the new expanded and revitalized East Scarborough Storefront Community Center1.... Impossible!! Maybe not ...
"Impossible" was not far from my thoughts when I joined the project's youth mentoring team as an architectural mentor. I was skeptical and unsure. This design method was foreign to me...how could this work? Throughout the past four months, however, I have found that this couldn't be more inaccurate and that I couldn't have been more naive. Their loyalty to the project and willingness to learn makes these youth more than capable!
Each week, they bring with them a passion and enthusiasm for the project that is inspiring. These youth are creative, motivated and driven. There have been countless weeks where they bring energy not only to the project but also to the mentors themselves. They are surprising realistic in their designs as well -- sometimes more so than the designers themselves. On an evening when we were working on floor plans I had one of the youth say to me, "Excuse me Ms, don't you think you're getting a little fancy here." At the age of nine and in all his creativity, he realized we had a budget and that there were certain limits that needed to be considered. I thought to myself, this most certainly could be a young architect, now all he needs is the opportunity.
The Storefront itself is more than a typical community centre to both youth and adults of the area. It provides employment assistance, legal advice, settlement services, art programs, mental health and counseling, parenting programs, health services and youth groups ranging from study groups to breakfast clubs2. For a lot of youth the Storefront is a second home -- or at times a safe haven. Countless hours of their weeks are spent here. Who better knows the existing space and who better to design the new space?
The project began with a charrette design process at the design exchange, where approximately thirty youth from the neighborhood participated in developing a design concept for the new face of the building. Following this, the youth presented their designs at a community speak where both community members and youth discussed the merits of the five different charrette designs.
Throughout the past four months the youth have been dedicatedly attending meetings once a week with mentors including; architects, interior designers, landscape designers, salvage specialists, fundraisers. They have produced a design complete with a site plan, floor plans, landscaping renderings, and building elevations. In the upcoming summer months they will go on to participate in fundraising events and will continue with the design process in September.
The youth have become an integral part of the design team. They have helped to rid the design process of any associated elite stigma3, and have directed focus and energy to what matters...their community, which has really made the project worthwhile. This is something that has been lost in so many modern projects, where the 'experts' know best.
The thing that tends to be overlooked is the countless hours which these youth are dedicating to the project, expecting nothing in return except to revitalize their own community. For this reason, there is no doubt in my mind, that the finished result will be an architecture that is not only beautiful and fun, but is functional and perfectly sculpted to fit the East Scarborough community.
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