THIS IS AN ARCHIVED SITE AND NO LONGER ACTIVE. For up-to-date info see: robertburley.com
News
Interview
Host Jill Dempsey speaks to Robert Burley and John Carley (Friends of the Spit) about what makes the park unique and how citizen advocacy played an important role in its development.
"After nearly 20 years of visiting the Spit, I thought I knew all about it, but a fabulous new book by landscape architect Walter Kehm and photographer Robert Burley showed me there’s much more to it.With essays by a number of contributors, the book lays out how the Spit became what it is today, in part accidentally, but by force of will too. Until reading “Accidental Wilderness,” I didn’t appreciate how much work has gone into creating the hidden parts of the landscape, its multiple “embayments” and “endikements,” or how thought was put into where the trails would go so visitors can feel like they’re getting lost a bit, getting away from the rigid structure of the city."
Chioma Lewis writes about the book and discusses the growing importance of urban wilderness with Walter Kehm.
“This is a buried city,” Kehm said. “This is like Pompeii. This is the ruins of subways, destroyed buildings and destroyed sidewalks. Everything is rubble. The whole thing was an accident because nobody knew what The Spit would become. Because it took so much time, nature just started to fill in the gaps."
Globe columnist Marcus Gee tours Tommy Thompson Park with Walter Kehm discussing the book and Kehm's decades long relationship with the park.
"The Spit, [Kehm] says, should never be a place of drinking fountains and park benches.
It is neither a neat public park nor a replica of the untamed wild. It is something quite different, something original and new."
Toronto Public Library
Stephen Bulger Gallery
Accidental Wilderness Book Launch & Exhibition
Orginally scheduled for December 12th/20 - this event has been postponed due to COVID restrictions. Check back in the New Year for updates.
About the book
Accidental Wilderness: the origins and ecology of Toronto’s Tommy Thompson Park
Published by University of Toronto Press, 2020
Printed in Canada
Acquisitions editor: Jodi Lewchuk
Managing editor: Robin Studniberg
Production manager: Ani Deyirmenjian
Copy editing: Ashley Rayner
Proofreading: Leanne Rancourt
Project manager: Claire Harvie
Design and cover: Cecilia Berkovic
Imaging: Bahar Kamali
Web design: Victoria Gomez
Accidental Wilderness was made possible by the generous financial support of Mary and Jim Connacher and family.
ACCIDENTAL WILDERNESS
The Origins and Ecology of Toronto's Tommy Thompson Park
Walter H. Kehm with photographs by Robert Burley
A fortuitious urban miracle, Tommy Thompson Park is an oasis of “accidental wilderness” on Toronto’s lakeshore.
Initially created as a landfill site on the city’s rapidly developing waterfront, the Leslie Street Spit, as the park is affectionately known, has seen its physical and ecological footprint grow dramatically over recent decades. Forests, grasslands, and wildlife now thrive – all within a stone’s throw of some of the most densely populated areas of North America’s fourth-largest city.
Accidental Wilderness is a rich and lyrical collection of essays curated by internationally recognized landscape architect and original designer of Tommy Thompson Park, Walter H. Kehm. A stunning collection of photographs by renowned landscape photographer Robert Burley complements these essays, which explore the city’s port origins; the principles and design of the park’s master plan; the native-plant succession process; the park’s unique flora and fauna; public advocacy efforts; and public recreation in the park and its effect on mental, physical, and spiritual health.
In an era when the dangers of climate change have begun to affect daily life, Tommy Thompson Park offers a hopeful narrative about how nature can flourish in, and contribute to, the well-being of twenty-first-century cities.
Hardcover : 192 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-1487508340
Publisher : Aevo University of Toronto Press (Dec 6 2020)
Product dimensions: 9”x12”
Table of Contents
Foreword David Miller Introduction Walter H. Kehm Portfolio I Robert Burley
Part I: Epiphany
The Spontaneous Ecology of Tommy Thompson Park Peter Del Tredici Building the Leslie Street Spit Wayne Reeves Aquatic Park Walter H. Kehm The Evolution of Advocacy John Carley Portfolio II Robert Burley
Part II: Process
Conservation by Design: The 1986 Plan Walter H. Kehm Plants and Natural Succession Gavin Miller Birds and Birding at the Spit Garth Vernon Riley Mammals and Fish Gord MacPherson and Walter H. Kehm Habitat Projects and Wildlife Management Andrea Chreston Portfolio III Robert Burley
Part III: Evolution
People in the Park Walter H. Kehm Let the Spit Be!! Robert Burley Home Chief R. Stacey Laforme
Acknowledgments Comparative Parks List of Bird Species List of Plant Species References Further Resources Key Contributors
About the authors
Walter H. Kehm
Walter is recognized as an internationally renowned leader and facilitator of landscape architecture and urban design projects. His work is widely published, and he continues to be involved in community workshops and international design competitions. In 1985 Walter created the master plan for Tommy Thompson Park and has remained actively involved in its growth and development over the past three and half decades. A graduate of Harvard University, Walter is a founding member of the Landscape Research Group at the University of Guelph, and a past professor of landscape architecture at the University of Guelph, including a term as Director of the School of Landscape Architecture. His recent projects include Trillium Park at Ontario Place and he continues his active practice based in Toronto.
Robert Burley
Robert is a Canadian artist whose photographs of the visual landscape have been celebrated internationally. His work concentrates on the relationship between nature and the city, architecture and the urban landscape. Over his 40-year career Burley has undertaken long-term visual investigations of subjects such as Chicago’s O’Hare Airfield, the designs of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the Great Lakes and Toronto’s natural parklands.
Burley’s photographs have been extensively published and can be found in numerous museum collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Musée de l’Elysée, George Eastman Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and Fotomuseum Antwerp (FOMU). Books featuring the work of Robert Burley include Viewing Olmsted: Photographs by Robert Burley, Lee Friedlander, and Geoffrey James (MIT Press 1996); The Disappearance of Darkness: Photography at the End of the Analog Era (Princeton Architectural Press 2012); An Enduring Wilderness: Toronto’s Natural Parklands (ECW Press 2017). He is currently a professor at the School of Image Arts, Ryerson University and is represented by the Stephen Bulger Gallery.
Robert Burley's Website
With contributions from:
David Miller
David Miller is the Director of International Diplomacy and Global Ambassador of Inclusive Climate Action at C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, where he is responsible for supporting nearly 100 mayors of the world’s largest cities in their climate leadership and building a global movement for socially equitable action to mitigate and adapt to climate change. During his two terms as Mayor of Toronto from 2003 to 2010, the city became internationally known for its environmental initiatives, economic strength, and social integration. Miller is a Harvard-trained economist and professionally a lawyer.
Garth Riley
Garth Vernon Riley is a co-chair of Friends of the Spit and as such has provided valuable input as a consultant on a variety of naturalization and re-naturalization projects in Toronto. He is also the eBird Reviewer for Toronto. He obtained a BSc (Biology) from the University of Guelph in 1977 and in 1980 began a career with the Ontario Public Health Laboratory as a medical laboratory technologist in microbiology. He retired from the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion as Director of the Toronto Public Health Laboratory in 2013.
John Carley
Since 1986, John Carley has been co-chair of Friends of the Spit, a citizen advocacy group established in 1977, dedicated to preserving the Leslie Street Spit and Baselands as a public urban wilderness for recreational enjoyment. In addition to his advocacy for the Spit, in 1995 John initiated the Toronto Butterfly Count, a continuing annual census. As an architect and birder, John was a volunteer member of the City of Toronto Bird-Friendly Development Working Group since 2011.
Gord McPherson
Gord MacPherson was a fish and wildlife technician with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), responsible for the development and management of Tommy Thompson Park. During his career at TRCA, Gord was responsible for broad-based Environmental Monitoring Programs and pioneered Conservation/Stewardship Outreach programs, as well as Habitat Restoration Projects. He was awarded the A.D. Latornell Conservation Leadership Award for his contribution to conservation in the Province of Ontario.
Peter del Tredici
Peter Del Tredici is a botanist specializing in the growth and development of trees. He worked at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University for 35 years and has taught at both the Harvard Graduate School of Design and MIT. His interests are wide ranging and include the ecology and taxonomy of hemlocks and the history of the ginkgo tree. His recent work is focused on urban ecology and climate change, and he just published the second edition of the widely acclaimed Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide (Cornell University Press 2020).
Gavin Miller
Gavin Miller has been a flora biologist with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) for 20 years. He conducts regular inventories of natural areas and manages data records for almost 1,900 plant species that occur or have occurred within the jurisdiction. He has a master’s in environmental studies from York University and has been observing the natural areas in the Toronto area (including Tommy Thompson Park) since childhood.
Andrea Chreston
Andrea Chreston is the Project Manager of Tommy Thompson Park with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). Andrea has been a proud member of the team that has helped shape this incredible urban wilderness since 2007. She holds a BSc (Env) from the University of Guelph and is passionate about restoring habitat for wildlife and improving the natural world.
Wayne Reeves
Wayne Reeves is Chief Curator for City of Toronto Museums & Heritage Services. He is also a widely published historical geographer who has focused on the interplay between nature and culture in Toronto, including the establishment and evolution of the city’s public greenspaces. He contributed essays to numerous books and was co-editor of HTO: Toronto’s Water from Lake Iroquois to Lost Rivers to Low-flow Toilets.
Chief Stacey Laforme
R. Stacey Laforme is the elected Chief of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation (MNCFN). Born and raised on MNCFN, Chief Laforme has served his community since 1999. Chief Laforme is committed to the increased involvement and communication between Elected Council and both on- and off-reserve membership. He is very active throughout MNCFN’s traditional territory, which encompasses 3.9 million acres of Southern Ontario, not only as a Chief but as a notable storyteller and poet. Chief Laforme has been appointed an honorary senior fellow for Massey College and was also recently recognized with the Walter Cooke Wisdom Keeper Award by the De dwa da dehs nye>s (Aboriginal Health Centre).
About Tommy Thompson Park
Tommy Thompson Park is a man-made peninsula which extends 5 kilometres into Lake Ontario in Toronto’s East end. Over a period of four decades, this unique landform was allowed to grow as nature intended and has been recently been designated an environmentally significant area by the City of Toronto. While the park is overseen by government agencies, it has been shaped by activists and passionate public defenders who recognized its importance as an urban wilderness very early on.
For additional information about Tommy Thompson Park visit:
Tommy Thompson Park Website (Toronto Regional Conservation Authority)
Tommy Thompson Park (Waterfront Toronto)