How can we establish a harmonious relationship to the water in the city? What if we perceived water as not just another natural resource for us to capitalise on, but living and breathing body that feels and needs to be cared for.

Don river is one of the great natural resources in the metropolitan Toronto area. The river is 38 km long and the entire watershed has an area of 360 square kilometres. Before colonial takeover the river featured heavily vegetated banks, as well as an extensive mouth that featured large area of marshland. Overtime as Toronto became more urban the river suffered a significant loss of habitat and vegetation.

Construction of railroads and later on, highways caused the river to be contained by concrete and redirected.

Approximately 800,000 people live in the watershed, making it Canada‘s most urbanised river. Current conditions of the river are poor due to urban runoff and combined sewer overflow, making it one of the most polluted and life deprived rivers in Canada.

AQUASCAPE presents an opportunity to reconnect with our most vital natural resource on a more deeper level. A restoration of native marsh vegetation in a form of rehabilitative landscape sculpture and a facility at the mouth of Don River that emphasises on bioremediation and exploration of our relationship to water. The facility is an interactive museum that focuses on a multifaceted approach to learning about water and what water means to residents of the city of Toronto.

Following the concept of staging the site is broken into phases of experiences of variety of roles the water plays in our lives. The park by the Don Roadway is reshaped into a marsh ecology which showcases the water as a source of wildlife and wonder. The Aquaponic indoor farms position water a generator of food for the residents of future Portlands neighbourhood. The boating and kayaking makes water an immersive navigational environment for transportation and movement. The gallery volumes act as dividers of phases and address the visceral relationship with water through art and observation. In turn they also act as point of distribution and filtration of water inside the facility for sustaining habitats and storage as drinking water. The lecture hall uses water in conjunction with sound and how it influences a positive public space. The building becomes a musical instrument - a hydrolophone that people activate as they walk through the sound promenade.

The facility features salt marshes and John Todd‘s eco-machines as primary technology to filter and store water. The water is cleaned to provide habitat for raising fish native to the Don. The water further undergoes cleaning through settling tanks and UV filtration to be stored as drinking water. Most of the filtration facilities are open to public to engage visitors in filtration and usage of water.