Woodbine Beach

Goodbye winter and hello spring! To mark the transition from winter to spring in my corner of the world, I am sharing two of my “bike and walk” outings. The first outing was to Woodbine Beach to explore the Winter Stations on display. The second outing was to the Toronto Music Garden to look for early spring flowers.

Winter Stations at Woodbine Beach

“Launched in 2014, Winter Stations invites the international design and art community to reimagine the lifeguard stations along Toronto’s east end beaches for the winter. The competition has seen entries from over 90 countries, bringing the world of design to the water’s edge“.

The theme this year is Resonance. Contesting designers for the competition were encouraged to reinvent previous installations and infuse them with fresh ideas and their unique artistic vision.

Here’s five of the six winning Winter Stations located from east to west at Woodbine Beach. Have a look and let me know if you have a favourite. Click on the title of the installation for its description.

Bobbin‘ by University of Waterloo School of Architecture (Canada)
Nimbus by David Stein (Canada)
Nova by Toronto Metropolitan University Department of Architectural Science (Canada)
We Caught A UFO! by Xavier Madden and Katja Banović (Croatia and Australia)
A Kaleidoscopic Odyssey by Brander Architects Inc (Canada)

The 6th installation Winteraction is interactive but simplistic in its physical form so I did not take a picture. It requires a phone to get the full experience.

It was a beautiful day with mild temperatures and sunshine. I enjoyed cycling, walking, experiencing nature and culture, all in one outing. I came home feeling happy and grateful.

Early Spring Flowers

I spotted several early spring flowers on my walk at the Toronto Music Garden this month: Crocus flowers, snowdrops, puschkinia and purple irises. Their simple beauty gave me joy. I look forward to seeing a wide range of spring flowers to bloom in the coming weeks.

Link-Up

I’d love for you to share your week’s highlights and/ or public art from around the world in the Comments or Weekend Coffee Share link-up #157 below. Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello and welcome to Weekend Coffee Share #62! I’m glad you’re here. Please come on in, help yourself to a cup of coffee, or tea, or hot chocolate at my coffee station and let’s chat.

Week 12/ 52

Spring arrived on Sunday March 20th in the Northern Hemisphere. I was ready to say goodbye to winter and hello to spring. On Monday, the daytime high temperature was about 14C (58F) and sunny.

A sunny spring day was the perfect opportunity to visit the 7th annual Winter Stations outdoor art installations at Woodbine Beach before the exhibits end on March 31st.

Lifeguard chair at Woodbine Beach. — Lifeguard chair at Woodbine Beach

Goodbye Winter 2022

Winter Stations began in 2015 as a way to highlight the beauty of Toronto’s east end beaches and make them a destination point for outdoor art installations during the winter. The artworks are set up at the lifeguard stations along Woodbine Beach, and each year an international competition receives entries connected to that year’s Winter Stations’ theme.

The theme for this year was Resilience. I’m sharing my pictures of the five winning designs for 2022. For each design, I included lake view and city view.

Click on the arrows or swipe to see the slides.

S’winter Station lake view
S’winter Station city view
The Hive lake view
The Hive city view
Introspection lake view
Introspection city view
Enter-Face lake view
Enter-Face city view
One Canada lake view
One Canada city view

If you’d like to read the Station description, click on its name on the following list:

S’winter Station – Design Team: Ryerson University’s Department of Architectural Science, Canada.
The Hive – Design Team: Kathleen Dogantzis and Will Cuthbert, Canada.
Introspection – Design Team: University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, Canada.
Enter-Face – Design Team: MELT – Cemre Onerturk and Ege Cakir, Turkey.
One Canada – Design Team: University of Guelph’s School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, Canada.

It was a beautiful day at Woodbine Beach where I said goodbye to winter. I love that even though Toronto is an urban centre, it has several Blue Flag beaches like Woodbine Beach. To see interesting public art on the beach is the icing on the cake.

Hello Spring 2022

Speaking of Resilience, on Tuesday, another sunny day, I spotted several early spring flowers in the public gardens. They have survived the cold winter months and bloomed amid the dead leaves. Seeing them made me so happy.

Hello snowdrops, hellebores, and a variety of crocus flowers! Welcome back. Even though winter still seems to linger, spring will take over. I look forward to seeing more lovely flowers in the coming days.

Click on the arrows or swipe to see the slides.