'The people will use it the way it was meant to be used'

"The people will use it the way it was meant to be used." That was a line we uttered over the weekend as we watched the unveiling weekend of the Simcoe Wavedeck. We saw people swarm over the deck and use it well, that way, they see fit. Sliding, scaling, sitting, embracing.


We couldn't help but notice over the weekend that the deck, so prestintely launched on Friday, by Saturday and Sunday, in the midst of the 1000 Tastes of Toronto, had been nicely broken in. Dozens upon dozens were sitting on it noshing on gourmet street eats while children lined up and kept on sliding down the waves.

In one of the quotes below in a Toronto Star column by Chrisopher Hume, you'll see what could be an astonished architect who probably didn't have a playground in mind, probably helpful in that they designed railings that looked like a hazard to the hundreds we saw scale the highest waves.  

Anyways, some of Hume's story here.

Technically speaking, this wooden structure, which rises and falls like an exquisite frozen wave, is a means of getting from one side of the Simcoe St. slip to the other. In fact, that's the least of its functions. Its real purpose is to be beautiful, and if not beautiful, elegant, engaging, entertaining, cool and ever so slightly loopy, qualities that have long been conspicuous in their absence on our poor long-exploited waterfront.

Snip.

"It's unbelievable," enthuses Rotterdam-based landscape architect Adriaan Geuze, whose firm, West 8, won an international design competition several years ago with Toronto's DTAH.

"I'm totally happy with it. From one point of view it seems so familiar. But it also inspires the child's mind within you. It took a very long time to figure out how to design it and build it. You're invited to come and play, but we didn't want to make it a playground.

"We wanted a serious moment of `Wow' and an identity for the waterfront. We had the idea of making it an amphitheatre-like space, a space that would attract children and adults."

What do you think? Playground? Art installation? Both?

All hail the Simcoe Wavedeck, be careful on the waves

So today, the Simcoe Wavedeck was supposed to launch but maybe they needed another day to get things today. With all that last minute work, we finally see how they intend to deal with those high 'waves'. We always thought they were a little dangerous looking, but knowing how careful Toronto can get, they installed railings that should pretty much keep most people away from the waves. We can see how now people are going to go up there for pictures.

Anyhow, here's the 'launch' notice for Friday.

Please note the Simcoe WaveDeck opening
scheduled for Thursday, June 11 will now occur on Friday, June 12 at 10:00
a.m. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Waterfront Toronto together with the Government of Canada, Province of
Ontario and City of Toronto will officially open the Simcoe WaveDeck on
Friday, June 12.
The Simcoe WaveDeck is the second and most dramatic urban dock being
built along Toronto's central waterfront. This uniquely Canadian structure
features an informal public amphitheatre-style space with impressive curves
that soar as high as 2.6 metres above the lake.

Webcams let you keep track of Waterfront Toronto's work

Waterfront Toronto has a few neat webcams set up so you can track the progress of the Simcoe Wavedeck, the East Bayfront construction on Queens Quay East and of the West Don Lands.

It's pretty neat, because it also has an archive function that lets you look at pictures from past days. For example, here's a picture of the Simcoe Wavedeck on April 9.



And a picture from this past weekend, May 31.



View all the webcams here

Simcoe Wavedeck to open next week

Just in time for the Luminato finale, we guess, but the Simcoe Wavedeck (across from the Rabba) is set to open next Thursday, the Post reports.

The whimsical wavedeck bridge under construction at Lower Simcoe Street will be open for public use next Thursday, says Adriaan Geuze, the Dutch mastermind behind the city’s gradually improving waterfront.

“They animate your eyes. They make Queen’s Quay literally kiss the water,” he exclaimed today, of the wooden bridges that imitate rolling waves.

Here's a picture of the almost-completed deck, taken from a webcam set up by Waterfront Toronto.



And how it looked in early April when we snapped this shot

Photo of the week: Deck in progress

Okay, yes we're showing you another picture of the Simcoe Wavedeck on Queens Quay but we thought this view was kinda nice. Enjoy.

That's a wavy deck: Simcoe Wavedeck

Across the street from the Rabba on Queens Quay, right beside the coffee shop and Paws pet store, is the next of the wave decks that are being built. It'll be finished this year, probably by the summer. Above are some pictures a few days ago.

Sure is more wavy than the Spadina Wavedeck.

Photo the week: Reclaiming land

Construction continues on the WaveDeck (see the Spadina WaveDeck to get an idea of what this will look like. This was taken a few weeks ago at Queens Quay near Simcoe, across from the Rabba's.

Queens Quay and Simcoe construction

We got this notification from Waterfront Toronto about sidewalk and lane closures starting Monday to next Friday as they do work on one of those wavey wavedecks.

Due to construction of the Simcoe WaveDeck the following closures will occur from January 26-30, 2009: 

• The south sidewalk at Simcoe Street Slip will be closed to pedestrian traffic during the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from Monday, January 26, 2009 to Friday, January 30, 2009.
  
• Pedestrians will be re-routed to the north sidewalk at the two nearest intersections which are Rees Street or Simcoe Street.
  
• The southern eastbound lane (curb lane) of Queens Quay Boulevard will be closed at Simcoe Slip during the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from Monday, January 26, 2009 to Friday, January 30, 2009.
  
• Two police officers will be onsite for the duration of the work period to direct and aid pedestrians and traffic.