While the frigid temperatures might be enough to make you want to hibernate inside all season, the return of a favourite outdoor design competition may have you braving the cold instead.
This February, Winter Stations will return to Toronto's waterfront, transforming four unused lifeguard stations into works of public art inspired by the theme Beyond the Five Senses.
Now in its sixth year, Winter Stations is an international design competition and exhibition held annually as a collaboration between RAW Design, Ferris + Associates, and Curio.
After receiving hundreds of applications from artists from all over the world, the winning installations have been revealed. These pieces will liven the urban landscape with abstract pieces, selfie-worthy moments, and more.
Running from February 17 through March 29, here's a look at this year's Winter Stations' installations.
Noodle Feed: By iheartblob, Vienna, Austria
Winter Stations 2020
The colourful installation Noodle Feed creates a shared augmented reality environment where people can interact in new ways. The colourful forms and tangible nature of the ‘noodles’ are designed to attract attention, while the rough matte texture of recycled sailcloth contrasts with the soft, springy cushioning of the objects, inviting visitors to move them into chairs, beds, and shelters.
An Augmented Reality App lets visitors leave digital traces of their time at the installation, including photos, stories, and drawings that can be seen by other users.
The Beach's Percussion Ensemble: By Centennial College, Toronto
Winter Stations 2020
Created by Centennial College, this installation consists of three structures of varying sizes formed of a series of stacked wooden rectangular prisms laid out in a circular shape around a giant steel drum. Where the prisms overhang, metal bells of varying shapes and sizes will hang and create sounds as the wind blows off of the lake. Visitors can use sticks chained to the structure to play along with the sounds produced by the lake’s elements and graffiti artists are invited to tag the structure.
Kaleidoscope of the Senses: By Charlie Sutherland of SUHUHA, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Winter Stations 2020
Kaleidoscope of the Senses re-purposes the existing lifeguard chair by bringing together a mixture of elements which are both a visual and experiential celebration of the senses and a metaphor of the body in space.
An open bell tower structure will create clanking metal sounds in the wind, while a diagonal black chimney draws up the aromas of oils set into the beach sand at its base. A horizontal white extrusion will reflect the horizon, framing a view of the water and back to the city. This is all emphasized by a lateral red beam, establishing a tactile bench within the structure.
Mirage: By Cristina Vega and Pablo Losa Fontangordo, Madrid, Spain
'@etta_girl/Instagram
Mirage was designed to react to the movements of the sun and the people around it. Depending on where the visitors are positioned, they will see either a red transparent sun setting or a light and bright rising sun laying on the horizon.
