Downsview Park Toronto

In 1999, an international competition was held to select an urban parkdesign for a former military base in Toronto. This 320-acre federal parkwill provide natural and formal garden environments, offering both passiveand active recreation while promoting such themes as environmentalsustainability, new ecologies, and the rich heritage of the site.Contributors to this volume analyze the entries of the competition finalistsand consider a range of issues raised by the competition, includinglandscape architecture, geography, landscape ecology, and contemporaryurbanism.This competition was especially noteworthy because it encouraged submissionsfrom teams comprised of designers from varying fields, including ecology,graphic design, and landscape architecture. The historically charged site,the competition's visionary parameters, and the resulting innovativecollaborations of the five finalists-including the winning design by adiverse team led by Rem Koolhaas of the Office for MetropolitanArchitecture-make the Downsview competition and its outcome a particularlysignificant case study for architecture, urbanism, and landscape design.