The interior of the Belly of a Bear, a huge sphere from burnt cedar created by Calgary artists Caitlind r.c Brown, Wayne Garrett and Lane Shordee, will soon be lined in faux fur and coats donated through Craigslist.
On Kew Beach this week, winning designs from the second annual Winter Stations Design Competition, a contest to transform lifeguard stations into art installations, were taking shape ahead of their formal unveiling Monday, February 15. The seven installations along Kew, Scarborough and Balmy beaches will remain open for public viewing until March 20.
Sauna by FFLO Kent, UK artists Claire Furnley and James Fox, another of this year’s seven winners, was also nearing completion Wednesday, February 10 even before construction was scheduled to officially begin.
Billed as “a completely immersive art installation bringing heat to the blustery lakeshore,” Sauna is sure to be a hit with the biting cold temps expected this weekend. The installation with heated seating will allow visitors to warm up while enjoying a lake view from behind transparent walls. What better way to embrace the competition’s Freeze/Thaw theme?
The colder weather this weekend shouldn’t prevent Torontonians from coming out to the beach, says architect Aaron Hendershott of RAW Design, a co-founder of the competition along with Ferris + Associates and Curio.
“Last year we opened when it was minus-30 Celsius. The builders’ tools were freezing and seizing up,” he says.
The builders were happy to get out of the cold and get a hot coffee while visitors came to Kew Beach to play with installations that won the international competition in 2015. “It’s a great form of socializing,” says Hendershott.
Hendershott hopes the installations will inspire visitors to appreciate the cold beauty of The Beaches, “a pretty special place that doesn’t get a lot of attention during the winter.”
That is why interactivity was the main criterion for this year’s contest, which attracted some 380 submissions, twice as many as last year, and were judged by a jury chaired by Globe architecture writer Lisa Rochon. “All of the installations can be read like pieces of poetry on the beach,” she says.
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