Project
Food & Cultural Centre: A new version of Toronto's shopping Centre
Year: 2022
Category: Cultural Architecture
Skills: Photoshop, Illustrator, SketchUp
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.
First steps : Central Entrance
First steps: Central Entrance highlights the primary entrance of the Food & Cultural Centre. The combination of tradition tiles along with the rangoli designs on the flooring creates a sense of arrival for the users. The design of the gateway at the entrance of the cultural center is similar to the Delhi gateways found on the periphery of the city of Delhi. The Jaali designed over the entrance gate of the cultural center creates patterns of light and shadow thus, enhancing the unique experience. The aim is to draw the attention of the users from outside to inside while experiencing the local South Asian Street market.
Farmer's Market
Food Basics are one of the most popular grocery stores in Canada due to its fresh produce and diverse ingredients available required for South Asian cooking. The farmer's market structure is designed to highlight the entrance of the Food Basics store that has been retained from the previous East York Town Centre at the site. This farmer's market is a platform that provides local vendors with revenue-generation opportunities while creating a place-making space. The patterns created by the structure in the image attract the users to appreciate the joy of diverse cultures and food under a single roof.
The Community Kitchen
The community kitchen is the anchor of the Food & Cultural Centre. The colors and design of the floor and ceiling are inspired by the colorful South Asian elements. The image also displays various styles of cooking spaces required for the South Asian style of cooking thus, providing opportunities to cook dishes from their home countries. These dishes hold sentimental values that are a part of the South Asian Heritage. The coffer slab has been designed to provide an experience of the traditional South Asian community kitchens. The kitchen in the image is not just a place for cooking, but also a platform to communicate and experience the joy of cooking together during various South Asian festivals.
Short story: The uniform - Dhaka Topi(hat)
“Kathmandu smells like deep flavors of authentic food and generations-old traditions ingrained in the culture. The steamy mornings, and eastern hilly regions of Nepal, perfectly fit in the window frame of my house. Seeing Kathmandu as the city wakes up, is the pure sound of the bells along with the sweet laughter of children outdoors, where the morning raga of the milkmen selling fresh dairy draws you to the balcony, the market which is usually chaotic but the colors, scent, and sounds make you stop and linger, and each time I do, I get swallowed by in the sacks of spices, piles of pink Himalayan salt, and the passion of the sellers. In the evening, the crunch of wai wai with the strong smell of kinema my sister is preparing, is strong enough for the neighbors to notice it. The smell of Kathmandu is in the religious attachment to Hindu ethics, and the charming tune of rich musical heritage. And just like that every night in Kathmandu, before going to bed as I take off my Dhaka topi (traditional Nepali hat) – the now settled smell of hard work, the bright moonlight falling on you mixed with the trees fighting their way to perfectly fit in the gap, find a way from that slightly broken window”.
Ground Floor Layout Plan
The site plan has been divided through a primary and two secondary axis with all three focusing towards the central placemaking courtyard. The ground floor layout plan has been divided into four categories. The courtyard style inspired commercial spaces are designed at the entrance of the front side of the building to attract more users. A separate block with a private restaurant plaza is designed for various types of authentic South Asian restaurants catering to the communities. The restaurant plaza is also connected to the central plaza used for festival celebration and place-making activities. The double-height multipurpose area along with the indoor-outdoor exhibition space connects the central plaza with the other existing retail shops in the Cultural Centre. The entry for the retaining Food Basics store is highlighted through the Farmer's Market structure at its entrance. On the first floor of the Food & Cultural Centre, various educational/co-working spaces have been designed that will provide better opportunities to the community. The educational Centre includes Immigration related knowledge, English speaking classes, cooking, and art classes etc. The goal behind Food & Cultural Centre is to provide a platform for the South Asian Community in Toronto as a place to be seen and heard by other communities. It also provides an opportunity to re-make their identity as an immigrant and increase cultural awareness for their future generations in Canada.
Maulshree Gupta
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