Adaptive Place-Making and Urban Agriculture Inform the Design of a Portuguese Canadian Cultural Center in West Toronto.

摘要

Immigrants to Canada bring their culture with them when they move; they also bring with them different understandings of dwelling and public place. As a result, they often modify existing urban patterns in a meaningful and interesting manner. This thesis explores the productive and creative adaptations that immigrant populations are making to the urban environment by considering the adaptations made by the Portuguese Canadians in Toronto, Ontario. Seizing upon their propensity for mixing hardscapes and agriculture in unexpected and strategic ways, and upon a desire to create community space, a new urban typology is proposed, one that is inspired by an understanding of urban life that seeks to engage the urban condition and its rich tapestry of materials, people and customs. This understanding of urban dwelling does not romanticize nature as an escape from the city and its ills, but rather embraces the potential to engage with the city and with each other in a different way. The resulting design for a cultural center is an urban infill project that reinforces reciprocal notions of productivity and consumption as it creates spaces to foster cultural continuity within the Portuguese Canadian community in Toronto.