I interpret generosity as being experienced for a moment but remembered in perpetuity. If generosity were to manifest itself in design it would take the shape of something fondly remembered; hence, the concept of forming memories and how these memories tend to evolve beyond their initial reality became central in my thesis. Taddle Creek is one of Toronto’s ‘lost’ waterways, ultimately subsumed by the urban fabric in the early 20th century – more a memory composed of historical fragments and imagined cues than a tangible creek. I propose a manifestation of this creek’s memory on a single city block.

This manifestation consists of a curated experience where architecture mediates a meandering approach to interpreting a site’s history. The first of these interpretations consists of an emulation of the Distillery District’s historic buildings, predominantly designed by David Robert, delineating a linear urban condition on the exterior of the block. On the interior of the block, the essence of Taddle Creek is suggested with a dramatic fracturing of the urban grid, marking its presence as a creek that is remembered in perpetuity.