Joe Lobko presents “Brownfields Redux” at ICOMOS conference in Paris

On the subject of “Heritage, Driver of Development”, Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works and Artscape Wychwood Barns were selected for presentation at the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) General Assembly and Scientific Symposium in Paris (France) November 28 – December 1, 2011.

The abstract of the accompanying paper by DTAH partner Joe Lobko is below, and available through ICOMOS online.

Abstract.  Cities around the world contain abandoned industrial brown-field sites that once played a critical role in the development of their urban areas, but which now lie dormant and inactive. ‘Toronto Brown-field Redux’ is the story about the adaptive reuse of two such sites within the largest city in Canada; one an abandoned streetcar storage and repair facility located in the midst of a downtown neighbourhood, and the other an abandoned brick-making plant located in one of the many river valleys that help define the physical character of the city. In both cases, a unique heritage building formation, long abandoned, has been revitalized and transformed into a vibrant, mixed-use community hub, with sustainability as a major design theme. In both cases, the re-development of these unique, publically owned sites was led by not-for-profit agencies, rather than government, and depended upon extensive community engagement and partnerships for capital funding, programming and ongoing stewardship. Both projects exemplify the overall symposium theme, “Heritage – Driver of Development.”