In 1999, an international competition was held to select an urban park design for a former military base in Toronto. This 320- acre federal park will provide natural and formal garden environments, offering both passive and active recreation while promoting such themes as environmental sustainability, new ecologies, and the rich heritage of the site. Contributors to this volume analyze the entries of the competition finalists and consider a range of issues raised by the competition, including landscape architecture, geography, landscape ecology, and contemporary urbanism.
The competition was especially noteworthy because it encouraged submissions from teams comprised of designers from varying fields, including ecology, graphic design, and landscape architecture. The historically charged site, the competition 's visionary parameters, and the resulting innovative collaborations of the five finalists ' including the winning design by a diverse team led by Rem Koolhaas of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture ' make the Downsview competition and its outcome a particularly significant case study for architecture, urbanism, and landscape design