Winter Stations Design Competition 2023

Winter Stations is a single-stage international design competition in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Participants will be designing temporary winter art installations incorporating existing lifeguard towers spaced strategically across the city’s Kew and Woodbine beaches. The structures (not in use in the wintertime) are visual anchor points for the installations.

As in previous years, Winter Stations intends to build 4-6 winning proposals for a six-week exhibition along the waterfront, funding permitted.

While Toronto beaches are not typically as well visited in the colder seasons, Winter Stations has captured the imagination of the city. Designers can expect their designs to be well-visited and should anticipate public interaction.

The competition is open to everyone in the world. There is no fee to enter.

2023 Theme: Radiance

Any type of change can be complicated – as we navigate through uncertainty and redefine the new norm. However, in all of this, we’ve learned how to be still, embrace life as it happens, and continue to grow.

Furthermore, in recognition and celebration of this, the theme chosen for the 2023 edition of Winter Stations is Radiance: the quality or state of being radiant. Radiance is a powerful thing to harness, as it reflects brilliance, inner security, kindness, and gratitude. But it’s also unique in that it has a positive ripple effect from its origin. Radiance is beautiful in the way it spreads organically. This year we want you to celebrate your growth, inner strength, and freedom in defining what radiance means to you.

Moreover, as Winter Stations moves forward this year, we ask designers to conceptualize their station to be experienced up close and from afar, in-person and virtually, as we continue to acknowledge the potential for in-person and travel restrictions. Furthermore, given unforeseen circumstances regarding our installation sites, stations should be designed structurally independent of the lifeguard stands and be suitable for both a sandy beach environment and a flat urban surface.

Proposals should adhere to the following budget for submissions: