Dreaming Big Exhibition Presented in partnership with Waterfront Toronto

Through art, architecture, design and media, Dreaming Big tells the story of Toronto’s waterfront. The history of passionate discussions and debates – of competing visions and proposals – and offers an inspiring glimpse into the future of Toronto’s love affair with the water’s edge.  

It asks “What to do with the Gardiner Expressway? The question and the answers which have helped to reshape the direction of development. With many ideas becoming incorporated into plans for the future of the Gardiner Expressway or adapted for use elsewhere in the city.

Over the course of two centuries, there have been many visions created Toronto’s water’s edge. In all of them, and certainly in those that have come to fruition, there is a constant interplay between industry and leisure. West 8 + DTAH’s new design for Queens Quay restores and reinvigorates the waterfront’s history of being a busy, bustling place for people. A widened pedestrian promenade, boardwalks and “wavedecks” create places for people to explore, to sit and talk, to play.

While other proposals featured in the exhibiton were never realized, the ideas and the public debate they stirred linger in today’s discussions. At the core of this exhibition is the notion that several ideas emerge again and again – ideas and principles that demonstrate the collective passion for this socially, culturally and economically vital place. The waterfront always has been and ever will be Toronto’s greatest asset. And that is why we should never fail to dream big. 

“Dreaming Big: Toronto’s Waterfront – 1852 to Tomorrow” runs until October 11, 2014 in the TD Gallery at the Toronto Reference Library. View the exhibition details, including a virtual exhibit, on the Toronto Reference Library’s website.