Ma-sh-ki-ki-ke:
A story of healing,
pour nous et pour la terre
"Ma-sh-ki-ki-ke" (mu-sh-ki-ki-kay), an Anishnaabemowin word that means: to make medicine.
We envision downtown as a place of healing for all of us, for the land, for the water, for the plants and animals.
The wellbeing of the community, of all community members, and of the earth are the guiding principles for a place of life, joy, inclusion, support, and reciprocity. Sudbury's urban core is...
Decolonized
Sudbury is located within Anishinaabe Atikameksheng territory. Atikameksheng people and values lead the changes needed in our systems, industries, practices and decision-making structures to heal ourselves and the earth. The urban core reflects and is guided by Anishinaabe identity and values. Signage shares history, facts and teachings.
Anishinaabe language (taught to all school children), art, images and symbols are an integral part of downtown, as are Indigenous events and spaces. The urban core is a place of healing and respect for Mother Earth and for each other.
Part of a healthy ecosystem and watershed
Green spaces, native vegetation, green walls and roofs, and low-impact development enhance biodiversity, improve water quality, and connect people to nature in the urban core. Surfaces are permeable to filter and cool water entering the watershed. Proper waste receptacles and storm drain filters prevent litter from entering Nolin and Junction creeks. The path of Nolin and Junction Creek below downtown is marked with informative art, signage, and trails that raise awareness, promote physical and mental health, and encourage eco-friendly activities.
Net Zero and climate emergency ready
A car-free urban core is connected to surrounding neighbourhoods and to all Greater Sudbury communities with safe and convenient active transportation and transit. Green energy is incorporated into public spaces, and both new and existing buildings are designed to the highest sustainable building standards. An energy positive downtown provides a local, decentralized green energy supply to surrounding institutions and neighbourhoods. A greenway of street trees, gardens, green roofs and walls, and permeable surfaces honours and protects the waters below. Green infrastructure cools the urban core and minimizes flood risks and water use. Downtown functions as a waste-free, circular economy.
Caring
People come first in a more humane urban core. Downtown is safe, friendly and caring for all people and cultures. Community-led initiatives, services, programming and celebrations thrive. Downtown is revitalized but not gentrified. Affordable housing, healthy affordable food, public washrooms, and supporting services are integrated into the urban core.
Vibrant and full of life
The urban core is well cared for, and always full of activity. There are gathering places, resting places and activities for all ages. Play areas for all seasons, informal and formal events, and performance spaces provide recreation and entertainment. Multi-purpose public art invites play and reflects the history, communities, and stories of this territory. The downtown is welcoming to all of Sudbury's diverse populations.
Project description
Through a comprehensive community design process, a new Master Plan, which honours the 5 themes described above, creates a thriving downtown core.
The main moves of this project can be summed up as :
REWILDING /
Removing all downtown train traffic allows the vast railyards to rewild themselves through a process of letting the land fallow into perpetuity.
DAYLIGHTING /
Large sections of both Nolin and Junction creek are daylighted. This is not only part of a decolonizing and ecological process, but also creates new spaces for the community to enjoy.
NORTH-SOUTH NEXUS /
Through the daylighting and creation of Nolin and Junction Greens a North-South Nexus is established, which joins the previously dislocated Borgia sector to the Junction triangle.
REVITALIZATION /
Adjacent to the new rewilded railyards, a massive revitalization of the Elgin cultural belt has taken place.
TRANSPORTATION REDESIGN /
A dramatic transportation redesign has created a quieter, less polluted, and more accessible downtown core. Most of downtown is car-free, with exceptions for accessibility purposes, emergency services, and larger deliveries. Main roads going through downtown are narrowed and slowed. Complete streets connect the downtown to the rest of Greater Sudbury. Connections to surrounding neighbourhoods, trails and parks are improved.
NOTE
All new proposed buildings are designed to be built with the latest mass timber construction techniques, to be have integrated passive design systems, equipped with green roofs and/or rooftop gardens, made with local and sustainable materials, and carbon positive.
Vacant buildings, rooftops, parking areas and laneways have been revitalized and repurposed in numerous ways, including affordable housing; youth, family and adult shelters; green energy generation; community gardens and urban agriculture; community and public art; pop-up uses; community-led spaces; performance spaces; and small businesses.
Background & Process
Below downtown Sudbury, Junction Creek and Nolin Creek flows. An Anishinaabekwe team member observed that their path forms the shape of a bear head, which came to be an important symbolic image for the project, and the concept of downtown as a place of healing for people and nature emerged. In Anishinaabe culture, the bear, Makwa (in Anishinaabemowin) is connected with healing, strength, wisdom and defense. The image of the bear is also a reminder that we are living within their habitat and many other animals.
The project name includes "Ma-sh-ki-ki-ke," meaning 'to make medicine' in Anishinaabemowin. To make medicine is to have a relationship with the land. Through gathering the teachings about the plants, the people, the animals, the connections they share and how they move in balance, one finds their medicine and place in the land.
Team members brought diverse personal and professional perspectives, experience, knowledge, skills and values to this project, to collectively speak to and contribute to the different principles, themes, and elements. This diversity of views, which includes healthy critique of design elements, reflects the values of inclusion essential to a community-led
design process.
The full team co-created the guiding vision for this project and provided feedback on the design. The design team creatively developed the overarching vision and insights into a comprehensive ecological Master Plan that focused on healing, community and vibrancy.
Public / Community Engagement
This project is locally-based and grounded in local grassroots community priorities, starting with a seed vision based on ~1000 citizen submissions. Community input was also received on the guiding principles and main project ideas.
This design plants the seed for an inclusive and community-based plan for the urban core. Creating a truly community-led design, or implementing any of the projects or ideas in this design would require local Indigenous leadership. Their meaningful and on-going community engagement is a process that takes much more time, capacity, and relationship building than can fit in any design contest submission, including this one.
On-going community engagement is integral to our vision of downtown. Community engagement is not only about shaping the vision for downtown, but an essential part of everyday life in a thriving downtown.
(From competitor's text)
Honourable Mention - "Mashkikike"
(Sudbury - Canada)
Emilio Portal, Matthew Hunter, Jayden Daoust, Elyse Portal, William Morin, Miranda Virtanen, Naomi Grant, Cora-Rae Silk, Camille Tremblay Beaulieu, Simon Blakeley, Rebecca Elphick, Megan Tran
"An inspiring and impressive design vision that upends conventional urban planning to prioritize, at long last, an Indigenous-led authorship and engagement of a broad grassroots community. The healing centre, set within a dynamic bridge structure over the water and grass lands surrounding an Indigenous pavilion, sets a new benchmark for Sudbury placemaking." - Lisa Rochon, Competition Juror and founder of CityLab in Toronto.
(From jury report)
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- Axonometric Drawing
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