Playshroom was a collaborative proposal by me, Johan Vonkavaara, and Yoko Xie, founder of the Indonesian architecture firm Instrumen/t, for the competition Winter Stations, arranged annually in Toronto, Canada, by a non-profit organization with the same name. The brief was to redesign the Woodbine and Kew Beaches in Toronto during the coldest months of the year by proposing and constructing installations that attracts visitors, activating the beachfront even during winter. A key part, because of limited resources, was to create imaginative and interactive installations with limited and strict budget.
Playshroom was our take on how to activate the beach and, through design, bring people together.
In the times of geopolitical uncertainity, economic conservatism and welfare cuts creates scarcity mindset and individualism, affecting low-income areas the most. We should stick together, but we’re being driven apart. This years theme, resonance, is our opportunity to again bring people together, to resonate with each other through society.
Playshroom is a ‘moving’ form-object, or a public furniture toy. Inspired by Noguchis idea of exploratory playscapes, Playshroom leaves the interactive switch to the public.
Sitting far apart makes it wobble, sitting close to each other makes it stable. Running around back and forth creates a game in which friends are made.
Interplay between people, mediated by the object, can again bring back the feeling of collectivity, to open up to each other.
It’s a simple curved plus-shaped structure made from pre-cut profiles joined together with a welded steel plate for balancing counterweight and structure. The profiles are spaced apart using smaller connecting plywood pieces.
The installation is placed on a platform of submerged base boards filled with sand from the site. This is to ensure that the structure won’t sink into the ground, but remain a playful balancing act.
It’s painted with red paint to resemble and celebrate the local lifeguard stations on the beach, for resonance, but also to produce a playful piece of outdoor furniture that stands out from its white, snowy surroundings.
Plan view showing the simple shape concept.
A section to show the rough measurements and scale.
vonka 