Toronto's frozen beach lifeguard stands, reimagined as art every February
Winter Stations
Since 2015, an annual design competition has turned the Beaches' otherwise-idle lifeguard stands into temporary public art installations through the depths of a Toronto winter.
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Winter Stations began in 2015 as a design competition that repurposes the lifeguard stands along the Beaches waterfront, structures that sit unused through Toronto's winter months once swimming season ends. Organizers invited architects, artists and designers to submit proposals that reimagined the standard wooden lifeguard towers as temporary sculptural installations, installed along the boardwalk each winter and left up for several weeks.
A cold-weather draw for a usually quiet stretch of waterfront
The competition gave the Beaches a reason for winter foot traffic along a stretch of shoreline that would otherwise sit largely empty once the summer crowds left, and it has continued annually since, each year showcasing a new set of designs from an international pool of entrants. Winter Stations has become a recurring feature of Toronto's winter cultural calendar, drawing photographers and visitors willing to brave the lakefront cold for a set of installations that exist for only a few weeks each year.
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