Vivarium

Exhibition space embedded in a Light Rail Transit station

In Partnership with Lauren Marshall | Eglinton Avenue, Toronto, Ontario

Traveling via public transportation through the city offers an exploration of unique neighbourhoods and landscapes. However, the most dramatic city experience on public transportation involves the dynamic relationship between the above and below ground environments. This project, Vivarium, seeks to offer an above ground expression of below ground activity through the exposition of activity traditionally hidden below ground.

The project frames an existing park and mediates between a busy commercial road and a quiet residential area by providing passageways at ground level. Two large atria act as urban lanterns that enclose deep excavations. One reveals the crossing of two train lines while the other serves as a mixing chamber for transit users and visitors to the exhibition space.