Maulshree Gupta
University of Waterloo
Food & Cultural Centre: A new version of Toronto's shopping Centre
With the increase in global migration, the notion of cultural identity is now no longer attached to a single place or time and is a continuous process of re-making. Similar to the concept of translating recipes, re-constructing identities is now no longer attached to or based on their origin. It adapts itself by incorporating new elements of meaning with a blend of social practices while re-drafting the old, thus, forming a cultural mosaic. Due to the complex cultural blend of diverse ethnicities and evolving social fabric, it becomes an essential reason for people to better understand and empathize with the traditions and food customs of diverse ethnocultural groups living together. For many immigrants living around the world, having a home-cooked meal of dishes from their home countries are truly a blessing. Considering the possibility that many of the immigrants get to visit their countries after a long time, these meals hold deep cultural and sentimental values. Hence, this project, "explores the role of food and art in preserving the cultural identity of South Asian Immigrants and their future generations in Canada". Thorncliffe Park, a neighborhood in Toronto, also known as the “arrival city” is an example of the earliest form of such a culturally diverse settlement wherein immigrants from various countries have lived together as a single close-knit community in one of the first high-rise residential apartments in Toronto. These families include nuclear families, joint families as well as different families living together and sharing a single unit. “People who can’t afford a two- or three-bedroom apartment are living in a one- or two-bedroom apartment.” (Monsebraaten,L. March 12th,2014). The city sustains one of the highest numbers of South Asian populations who are diligently trying to re-construct their lives to achieve a better living standard. Overlea Boulevard, a South Asian shopping complex in Thorncliffe Park, is home to not just small-scale businesses but is also a reflection of the South Asian communities and their identity built over the years. However, Metrolinx in the year 2019 confirmed the construction of a new Ontario Metro Line to be located at Overlea Boulevard in replacement of the existing shopping complex. It also involves an adjoining area of 175,000 sq. m finalized for its maintenance and parking facility where currently, there are over 100 small-scale businesses, an Islamic center, and an industrial park located. According to the Toronto Employment Survey (2019), 1100 direct jobs and other recreational community areas will be affected due to the decision leaving many unemployed and a few businesses displaced. This is a design-based project, the goal of which is to transform Thorncliffe Park into a public form of the traditional community. Hence, these existing and future developed issues helped me re-consider the developing needs of the neighborhood along with a new version of a district shopping center to help preserve the lost traditions of the community and offer opportunities to small scale businesses. The goal is to retain the cultural significance of the South Asian community in the area by transforming the meaning and value of the Overlea Boulevard into a significant and symbolic place in Thorncliffe Park. Food and Culture together form the intangible heritage of the South Asian communities that must be preserved and shared with people from other communities. In order to achieve that, the project envisions ways to collectively re-make the socio-cultural identity of residents of Thorncliffe Park through the medium of food, craft, and art, and provide a similar social structure that feels like home, a place of opportunity, for the first- and second generation immigrants from South Asian countries. Hence, this project intents to take the first steps toward creating a South Asian community socio-recreational space in Thorncliffe Park, a source, and a resource to preserve the food traditions, and community-sensitive building language to create better revenue generation opportunities.
Food & Cultural Centre: A new version of Toronto's shopping Centre
With the increase in global migration, the notion of cultural identity is now no longer attached to a single place or time and is a continuous process of re-making. Similar to the concept of translating recipes, re-constructing identities is now no longer attached to or based on their origin. It adapts itself by incorporating new elements of meaning with a blend of social practices while re-drafting the old, thus, forming a cultural mosaic. Due to the complex cultural blend of diverse ethnicities and evolving social fabric, it becomes an essential reason for people to better understand and empathize with the traditions and food customs of diverse ethnocultural groups living together. For many immigrants living around the world, having a home-cooked meal of dishes from their home countries are truly a blessing. Considering the possibility that many of the immigrants get to visit their countries after a long time, these meals hold deep cultural and sentimental values. Hence, this project, "explores the role of food and art in preserving the cultural identity of South Asian Immigrants and their future generations in Canada". Thorncliffe Park, a neighborhood in Toronto, also known as the “arrival city” is an example of the earliest form of such a culturally diverse settlement wherein immigrants from various countries have lived together as a single close-knit community in one of the first high-rise residential apartments in Toronto. These families include nuclear families, joint families as well as different families living together and sharing a single unit. “People who can’t afford a two- or three-bedroom apartment are living in a one- or two-bedroom apartment.” (Monsebraaten,L. March 12th,2014). The city sustains one of the highest numbers of South Asian populations who are diligently trying to re-construct their lives to achieve a better living standard. Overlea Boulevard, a South Asian shopping complex in Thorncliffe Park, is home to not just small-scale businesses but is also a reflection of the South Asian communities and their identity built over the years. However, Metrolinx in the year 2019 confirmed the construction of a new Ontario Metro Line to be located at Overlea Boulevard in replacement of the existing shopping complex. It also involves an adjoining area of 175,000 sq. m finalized for its maintenance and parking facility where currently, there are over 100 small-scale businesses, an Islamic center, and an industrial park located. According to the Toronto Employment Survey (2019), 1100 direct jobs and other recreational community areas will be affected due to the decision leaving many unemployed and a few businesses displaced. This is a design-based project, the goal of which is to transform Thorncliffe Park into a public form of the traditional community. Hence, these existing and future developed issues helped me re-consider the developing needs of the neighborhood along with a new version of a district shopping center to help preserve the lost traditions of the community and offer opportunities to small scale businesses. The goal is to retain the cultural significance of the South Asian community in the area by transforming the meaning and value of the Overlea Boulevard into a significant and symbolic place in Thorncliffe Park. Food and Culture together form the intangible heritage of the South Asian communities that must be preserved and shared with people from other communities. In order to achieve that, the project envisions ways to collectively re-make the socio-cultural identity of residents of Thorncliffe Park through the medium of food, craft, and art, and provide a similar social structure that feels like home, a place of opportunity, for the first- and second generation immigrants from South Asian countries. Hence, this project intents to take the first steps toward creating a South Asian community socio-recreational space in Thorncliffe Park, a source, and a resource to preserve the food traditions, and community-sensitive building language to create better revenue generation opportunities.
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