The in-between: the architecture of surface

Many North American cities are experiencing an intensive re-urbanization of their central cores. In Toronto, this phenomenon is at an extreme: rampant private development, and weak public authority, is shaping many communities. The mediocre civic spaces and infrastructure to support this burgeoning pedestrian, live-work population has predictably been addressed through the incremental integration of public spaces into individual architectural projects. This ad hoc strategy does not offer the breadth or consistency of language to create a clearly identifiable or contiguous public realm. If we cannot depend on architecture’s vertical plane to define public spaces, we need to reaffirm the domain over which the public has control — the horizontal — streets, sidewalks, and the existing but residual public spaces in-between. This thesis posits that within the existing public spaces of the city’s core we can expand the quality, continuity and accessibility of the public domain by the way we manipulate its surface