Kiana Rezvani Baghae

A SEED ODYSSEY: Reconceptualization of Sheppard Yonge Subway Station

How can the architectural design of everyday transitory spaces become a transition for mindfulness, reflection, and a journey of growth?

“From the first rays of the sun in the early hours of the dawn, to the quivering rays of the street lamps in the late hours of the night, the dwellers of the city are transported from morning to night underneath the many layers of the land. The Sheppard Yonge subway station, enveloping the urban life of the North York community, became the focal point of my research, and subsequently became the focus of this thesis re-imagination; with the objective of exploring how light, colour, and volumetric experience could uplift the human spirit in this active but often uninspired urban space. The pivot of a transformative concept is the symbolism of a milkweed seed; an indigenous wildflower family to North York district, wistful as a seed, interlocked as a sapling, and outstretched as foliage. The journey of a milkweed is a metaphor that encapsulates the transitory concept of our transitory society; if cultivated with adequate sunlight, water and air, this seed will unravel its latent potential.In composing this conceptual framework within the subway station, I composed the milkweed’s growing journey through each level of the station embodying a subsequent stage in the development of its search for light. Just as the fluid milkweed’s floss, the walls and ceilings of the subway tunnel are wrapped with strips and programmatic lighting. As the passengers travel higher, natural daylight is introduced through a crescendo of skylights, representing the sapling milkweed and its stretching roots. Then, the volumes of space flourish and play with light filtration through transparent and translucent glass prism frames in the bus terminal.”