Introduction

 “54East is…A project conceptualised, designed, and produced by ThinkTankToronto in collaboration with Work Worth Doing. It includes many things including:”

About 54East
The 54East Project is centred around the landscapes and people of Toronto's Lawrence Avenue East corridor. We want to document and showcase this world of strip malls, small bungalows and abandoned spaces to a broader audience. The name of the project draws its inspiration from the 54East bus which travels the full length of this major avenue. We want you to be a part of this project... please read on let us know what you think.

 

What is the 54East Project all about?
Imagine a person boarding a bus 'the TTC's 54 East bus at the south-east corner of Victoria Park and Lawrence – one day in the fall of 2004. This intersection marks the beginning of the old borough of Scarborough before amalgamation. The person boarding the bus is listening to music as she rides all the way to Starspray Blvd, which is the last stop. What does she see along the way? Much of the trip involves gazing at the endless series of strip malls present along the Avenue from Victoria Park to Starspray Blvd. How does the music combine with this unique urban landscape to produce a genuine, though unintended, multimedia experience? These questions and observations are the starting point for the 54 East project which will involve local high-schools, shop owners and their customers, the TTC and its riders, the city of Toronto and other relevant stakeholders. Filtered from the perspective of this imaginary rider, 54East intends to uncover and expose the hidden connections between places and people. This will be achieved through cultural and economic projects inspired by the local environment.

Who is Responsible for 54East?
54East is the brainchild of ThinkTankToronto. In collaboration with other groups such as WorkWorthDoing, the Wexford Heights BIA, the City of Toronto’s Clean and Beautiful Secretariat, the Design Exchange, Local Politicians, and PepperPot Media, we have decided to start our first major project right here in Scarborough. Lawrence Avenue East from Victoria Park to Starspray Blvd, has upwards of 65 strip malls which house a diversity of architectural forms, human talent, nationalities, languages, products and services, and most importantly, personal stories. The sponsors of this project want to document and help promote this creative potential.

What does 54East want to achieve?
We want to encourage the development of cultural products that reflect what is already happening, and what could happen along Lawrence Avenue East. Some of this work is our own, but we also want to help sponsor others with like minded ideas. Some of our own projects are listed here: We are creating a 54East Forum for local businesses where both stores and personal stories will appear. The strip malls of Scarborough not only constitute a unique architectural imprint on the city, but also give life to new ideas and house a rich diversity of cultures and shop owners from around the globe. Documenting and exposing this rich diversity via the 54East Website will be a start but we want to do more. We want 54East to be an open and inviting urban Destination for local tourists intent on exploring the vibrant, unconventional nodes of urban life housed within the seemingly anonymous collection of Strip malls. We are creating a Visual Identity for the 54East Project which we hope will be used by local schools, residents and shop owners to help promote local endeavours. The 54East Logo will be representative of the environmental features of the area. As an Institution, we hope that 54East will facilitate the organization and promotion of events such the successful Taste of Lawrence Festival. We think more can be done and we want to help in this process. Finally 54East is about promoting Local Economic Development. We want to help spawn new cultural and environmental projects in the area. We also want to give governments and investors innovative ideas on how to use and reuse existing spaces and create new “culturoeconomic”© outlets along the Lawrence Avenue corridor.