Toronto, Ontario

Toronto Island Airport Visioning Charrette

Office For Urbanism was retained by the TEDCO to conduct a visioning Charette on the future of the island airport. The Visioning Charette was a rare opportunity for community representatives and residents, and local and visiting professionals to come together and reflect upon previous thinking about the site, and to create planning principles to direct the Island Airport siteís evolution.

The Toronto Island Airport Charette was a three-day event designed to generate a series of visions for the future use of the Island Airport Site. Office for Urbanism, using its international connections and its expertise with local stakeholder groups, was able to cast the net wide to include a group of experts beyond the urban design and architectural community so as to ensure that community and local input were at the forefront of the design professionals’ minds. Although the purpose of the Charette was to generate a completely new set of visions for the Island Airport Site, participants from past debates were invited to participate in an inclusive and collaborative process as a means of acknowledging the material and symbolic importance of the Airport site. The process included a public workshop, a two day design Charette, and culminated in an Open House that was attended by the Mayor, elected officials and members of the public.