On Woodbine Beach it’s a bright, blisteringly windy day. Toronto is a maze of slushy pathways and salted sidewalks, but from this sandy boardwalk, Winter Stations emerges as a bright beacon of color, community and design talent.
Photo by Joel Gale
Celebrating its 12th anniversary this year, the Winter Stations international design competition—organized by RAW Design, Ferris + Associates, and Curio—invites artists, architects and designers to re-imagine an unusual typology, lifeguard stations, and transform them into dynamic works of public art. Set against the backdrop of Lake Ontario, the five winning proposals are then built, and remain on display for a 6-week exhibition that is free and open to all, attracting curious Torontonians from around the city. Today is no different: a constant stream of dog-walkers, young families, bundled toddlers, assistant editors (me) and beach-goers marvel at the eye-grabbing installations.
This year’s theme, Mirage, challenges entrants to explore the edges of reality, asking: what do we long to see? In the age of AI and digital echo chambers, where is the line between what is seen and what is real? Selected by a blind jury of leading art, design, architecture, and urbanism experts, the winning projects tap into this theme from a range of thoughtful angles and engaging materialities.
Photo by Joel Gale
Embrace
Two giant hands of thin, blackened wood emerging from the sand are already an unusual sight, but moving in closer reveals their rainbow-striped palms. Designed by Saskatoon-based art director and 3D artist Will Cuthbert, Embrace is an invitation to discover a new reality, to change your perspective and to be cocooned by the hands. And the people love it: hands reach out to touch, mirroring their giant neighbors.
Photo by Joel Gale
Photo by Joel Gale
Crest
Like the choppy water of Lake Ontario only a few steps away, Crest evokes a sweeping wave before it breaks offering onlookers a moment of pause within its enveloping form. Inside, the waffled plywood pattern—meant to look like driftwood from afar—dissapears and reappears based on the angle. And in the afternoon sun, Crest’s curving form produces a matching shadow of geometric lines on the sand. Designed by a band of talented students from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture and the Department of Architectural Engineering, the team includes Clay te Bokkel, Isabella Ieraci, Matthew Lam, Sasha Rao, Simon Huang, Oskar Peng, David Shen and Professor Fiona Lim Tung.
Photo by Joel Gale
Photo by Joel Gale
SpeculariaÂ
Designed by Maine-based interdisciplinary designer Andrew Clark of TORNADO SOUP, this interactive installation invites visitors to walk through a gauzy-curtained corridor and look through five framed openings to the lake. Each window offers a different perspective: one frames the lifeguard tower, one reveals the sky above, another reflects your own face back at you. Dubbed Specularia, the installation—built with MicroPro Sienna treated lumber—blends reality with dreamy portals untethered from context.
Photo by Joel Gale
Photo by Joel Gale
Glaciate
A small maze of vertical polycarbonate panels filled with water from the nearby lake, Glaciate’s frosted walls offer an ever-changing optical illusion as the water freezes and warms. These shifting forms—opaque, translucent,  or transparent—blur the outsider’s view of a central lifeguard tower in vibrant red while also clouding the insider’s view to the beach. Designed by a group from Toronto Metropolitan University Department of Architectural Science in collaboration with Ming Chuan University School of Design comprising Finn Ferrall, Nicholas Kisil, Marko Sikic, with faculty supervisor Yew-Thong Leong and Vincent Hui, Glaciate makes being on the beach feel a little like being inside a rain-filled cloud.
Photo by Joel Gale
Photo by Joel Gale
Chimera
Completely enveloping the lifeguard tower with circular mirrors, Chimera confronts viewers with echoing versions of themselves. Designed by Denys Horodnyak and Enzo Zak Lux of shared Berlin-based creative practice, the installation speaks to the fragmentation of physical and digital realities—and the lack of control individuals may have over the self. Created in partnership with the Mechanical Contractors Association of Ontario, the duo tapped pipe welder and metal artist Courtney Chard to fabricate the design from her Georgetown studio.
Don’t miss your chance to see these stunning installations in person! For more details, visit their website here.
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