Concord CityPlace

Concord Adex Developments Corporation has announced the commission of celebrated author, irreverent artist and cultivator of postmodern Canadian sensibilities, Douglas Coupland, to work in collaboration with widely regarded landscape architect, Greg Smallenberg of Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg, for the design of the most significant privately-funded downtown Toronto park in decades.

This impressive and unique public asset will be the focal point of the western portion of Concord CityPlace located west of Spadina Avenue, south of Front Street, on eight acres of malleable land that Coupland likes to refer to as a giant sandbox full of topographic opportunity.

Karen Mills, world-renowned public art consultant explains, "We were looking for a design team for the park that would not be imitative and could make a contribution to the cultural wealth of Toronto...a team that we could count on to design the unexpected and unpredictable. After three years of research, Douglas Coupland and Greg Smallenberg were commissioned."

The design team's urban park will be unique in usage, natural and man-made beauty as well as its sense of place in the heart of Toronto. It's a large-scale legacy project that will be a highly visible component of Concord City Place and the surrounding neighbourhood. Concord City Place's contribution to the cultural wealth of the city is unsurpassed, as the park will be gifted to the City of Toronto as a public amenity upon completion in the spring of 2008.

The park's universal design will serve not only the Concord City Place community, but also the surrounding neighbourhood. An adjacent school, community center and daycare facility ensures that the site is useful to and useable by everyone. It will strike a balance between community and solitary activities, the natural and the cultivated.

"Coupland and Smallenberg's design will attempt to create the concept of urban parks for future generations," said Alan Vihant, vice president development for Concord Adex. "Their master plan will strive to create harmony of use and maintain the context within which the park exists."

The urban landscape, the local and regional geography, and its rich historical and social context allow for site-specific design. The project will be symbiotic with the area's incredibly rich history from early settlement to a strategic defense position in times of war.

Born in Vancouver in 1961, Coupland studied art in Canada, Italy and Japan and to date has authored ten novels including the well-known "Generation X" which was released in 1991. A recipient of a Canadian National Award in Industrial Design, Coupland currently divides his time between Vancouver, Los Angeles, northern Scotland and other "psychically strong" - as he calls them - regions.

Greg Smallenberg is a partner in the Vancouver-based award winning landscape architectural firm of Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg which has worked across Canada and throughout the world.