Site History

Since its creation in 1971,¹ Ontario Place has served as an urban refuge for Toronto and beyond. The site’s ingenious landscaping, designed by Michael Hough, has richened with time, creating an ecologically diverse public space vital to the urban dweller’s well-being. However, the rich image of Ontario Place stems from a complicated past, and faces an uncertain future.

Until the late 1960s the condition of Toronto’s waterfront was similar to that of other North American cities: access to lakeshore was severely limited due to railways, industrial activities, and other urban phenomena.² The government realized that an attempt should be made to stimulate new interest along the waterfront.

The government’s plan sought to create a space that revitalized Toronto’s existing shoreline, prioritizing recreational use and tourism.³ However, this vision was altered to include suspended pavilions (what was to be the pods), subsequently requiring land fill operations to protect the pavilions from the wind and the wave conditions of Lake Ontario.⁴ Hough suggested that the space should embrace the necessary landfills, extending the bounds of the project further into the water.⁵

The site’s harsh wind and wave conditions would be formative factors in the project’s development, shaping a site primed for innovative transformation. Some 50 years later, traces of Hough’s original designs can be found throughout the site. Now fully mature, the site is even richer than when it was first created: a recognition of this natural and material richness must be considered in its future.