Ziibiing, University of Toronto, Ontario
PROJECT Ziibiing (Taddle Creek Indigenous Landscape at U of T), University of Toronto
ARCHITECT Brook McIlroy
PHOTOS Tom Arban
For millennia, Taddle Creek was an important resource and waterway for Indigenous peoples living on or near the land that, in the mid-19th century, became the University of Toronto’s main campus. There are painful parallels between Canadian Indigenous history and this creek, which was driven underground when it impeded the city’s growth. Ziibiing (Anishinaabemowin for “River”) remembers the creek and that human history. The project is a U of T response to a Truth and Reconciliation Commission call for “the creation of significant dedicated Indigenous space” on the St. George Campus, including “outdoor space appropriate for Indigenous spiritual needs.”
Ryan Gorrie is the Brook McIlroy principal who leads the Toronto-based practice’s Winnipeg office and its Indigenous Design Studio, which designed Ziibiing. “I think our job as Indigenous designers is to take cultural ideas and push them forward through modern means, but also provide interpretations that allow layering,” says Gorrie, a member of Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek (Sand Point First Nation on Lake Nipigon). Through consultation with U of T-affiliated Elders, Indigenous students, and faculty of architecture, landscape, and design students, the design team sought to create meaningful, welcoming, contemporary space for ceremonies, celebrations, education, and contemplation.
Ziibiing is set within the Landmark Project, on land that gently crests in front of Hart House and slopes southward. Knowledge House, Ziibiing’s focal point, is an open-sided bronze pavilion on the highest part of the site. Incised into the underside of Knowledge House’s faceted, carapace-like roof are circles representing a sky map’s constellations. Two barnacle-shaped apertures push through the roof: a large one over the firepit, and a smaller one that at on clear nights frames the real North Star, which appears to remain stationary in the Northern Hemisphere’s sky. Four branching, sculptural bronze forms surround the pavilion, marking the cardinal directions. Located at a primary entrance to the campus, the east marker is axially connected to Knowledge House by a water feature memorializing Taddle Creek: pebble-lined troughs flanking a sloped pathway collect rainwater from the pavilion’s roof and drain it into a rain garden.
Brook McIlroy collaborated with Indigenous plant specialist Joseph Pitawanakwat to develop a ruggedly beautiful softscape of meadow, woodland, and marsh plants used in traditional Indigenous medical practice. Well-executed interpretive signage depicts tree forms and leaf shapes and provides species’ names in Anishinaabemowin, Seneca, Latin, and English.
South of Knowledge House, an amphitheatre’s bench seating nestles into a slight slope. Whether they’re hosting ceremonies or merely providing pleasant spots to pause between classes, the striking bronze pavilion and the modest amphitheatre are good places to reflect on the values embodied in the campus buildings that surround them.
CLIENT University of Toronto—Office of Indigenous Initiatives | ARCHITECT TEAM Calvin Brook (FRAIC), Adrienne Huang, Afshin Ashari, Andrea Mantin, Dani Kastelein, Ella Kelly, Kyle Gatchalian, Lucas Horvath, Luke Mollet, Rachelle Lemieux, Ryan Gorrie (MRAIC), Tamara Urben-Imbault, Trish Clarke, Wyatt Armstrong, Stuart Cameron, Kateri Lucier-Laboucan, Reanna Merasty | STRUCTURAL Blackwell | LANDSCAPE Brook McIlroy | CONTRACTOR Ellis Don | INDIGENOUS PLANT EXPERT Creators Garden | ARBORIST Cohen & Master | IRRIGATION Creative Irrigation Solutions | ENGINEER—STRUCTURAL (LIGHT POLE FOOTING) RC Engineering | CIVIL Ty Lin | AREA 4,505 m2 | BUDGET $4.6 M | COMPLETION September 2024
The post Ziibiing, University of Toronto, Ontario appeared first on Canadian Architect.