{"id":50666,"date":"2015-02-10T10:44:01","date_gmt":"2015-02-10T15:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=50666"},"modified":"2015-02-11T11:45:57","modified_gmt":"2015-02-11T16:45:57","slug":"toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, I joined a Lost Rivers<\/a> walk within the PATH system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Typically engaged with tracing the routes of buried creeks within Toronto\u2019s topography, the Lost Rivers PATH walk was unique in its investigation of a part of the city so thoroughly urbanized that finding traces of what came before seems absurd. <\/span><\/p>\n

In its third year of hosting the PATHology and Geology walk<\/a>, Lost Rivers has once again invited a reconsideration of Toronto\u2019s urbanized core. Our goal was finding proxies for \u2014 and true instances of \u2014 nature within the world\u2019s largest network of underground pathways.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"JohnWilson<\/a>
Lost Rivers PATH walk convening at Yonge and Adelaide. The walk was lead by geologist John Wilson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lead by geologist John Wilson, our group learned about the origins of the stone that clads the interior spaces and exterior facades of Toronto\u2019s largest skyscrapers. Stopping to appreciate nature-inspired art along the way, we also found evidence of one of the many streams that used to flow through the centre of the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

It turns out that most of the stone cladding in Toronto comes from very far away. Despite being just south of the Canadian Shield, Toronto\u2019s skyscrapers are covered in stones from further afield, like red granite from Sweden (Scotiabank Plaza), travertine from Italy (the lobby of the TD Centre) and marble from Kashmir (the tunnel west of Scotiabank).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>
Considering the stone cladding of the TD Centre above ground. Photo by John Wilson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thinking about the sheer volume of stone mined from the earth, shipped across the planet and reconstituted as Torontonian skyscrapers, it\u2019s easy to appreciate that our modern city is a geologic force as strong as those that created the Scarborough Bluffs and carved the ravines. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, the geologic forces of urbanization are more subtle. When the initial construction of the Bay-Adelaide centre was delayed indefinitely<\/a> in the early 1990s, the city was left with a 6-storey stump and an unfulfilled order of 35,000 tons of Norwegian granite. Without the 44-storey tower to be clad, the city was awash in free flowing Scandinavian stone that has since settled into hundreds of tables and floors in downtown Toronto. <\/span><\/p>\n

Beneath the city covered in layers of stone from elsewhere, there are indeed remnants of historical watercourses. Though most of the waterways in downtown Toronto have been eradicated due to extreme excavation for infrastructure and subterranean parking levels, a proxy for\u00a0one of the Market Streams<\/a> that\u00a0used to flow south east through the city does exist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A map of Toronto from 1817 shows many streams running through what is now downtown. From oldtorontomaps.blogspot.ca<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"marketstreams\"<\/a>
The Market Streams, now buried, used to run through downtown Toronto. Map courtesy of LostRivers.ca<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the corridor between the Royal Bank Building and Brookfield Place, the stone below our feet was showing signs of water absorption. This would have been\u00a0where Newgate Creek emptied into Lake Ontario.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Signs<\/a>
Signs of groundwater in the stone between Union Station and Brookfield Place could be the last signs of Newgate Creek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though dry to the touch, the off-coloured stone might be a sign of the groundwater that would have replaced the creek. Standing underground, surrounded by concrete, it’s powerful to feel this rare assertion of the landscape beneath\u00a0Toronto \u2014 a sign of the city before the glass, steel and international stone of today\u2019s internationally constituted metropolis.<\/p>\n

Check out Lost Rivers<\/a>‘ website for upcoming walks<\/a>.
\n<\/em>The idea that Toronto is a geologic force was inspired by\u00a0<\/i>Geologic City: A Field Guide to the GeoArchitecture of New York City<\/a>\u00a0by Friends of the Pleistocene<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Smudge Studios<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Daniel Rotsztain is the Urban Geographer. Check out his website<\/a> or say hello on Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, I joined a Lost Rivers walk within the PATH system. Typically engaged with tracing the routes of buried creeks within Toronto\u2019s topography, the Lost Rivers PATH walk was unique in its investigation of a part of the city so thoroughly urbanized that finding traces of what came before seems absurd. In its thirdContinue reading “Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8085,"featured_media":50870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-history"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nToronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last month, I joined a Lost Rivers walk within the PATH system. Typically engaged with tracing the routes of buried creeks within Toronto\u2019s topography, the Lost Rivers PATH walk was unique in its investigation of a part of the city so thoroughly urbanized that finding traces of what came before seems absurd. In its thirdContinue reading "Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-10T15:44:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-11T16:45:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/01\/Toronto-Geologic-Force.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"614\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"408\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daniel Rotsztain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Rotsztain\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/\",\"name\":\"Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system - Spacing Toronto\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/01\/Toronto-Geologic-Force.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-10T15:44:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-11T16:45:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/d67f017d4216048d87756f4aaf106c3b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/01\/Toronto-Geologic-Force.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/01\/Toronto-Geologic-Force.jpg\",\"width\":614,\"height\":408},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Toronto\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/d67f017d4216048d87756f4aaf106c3b\",\"name\":\"Daniel Rotsztain\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b37e95ea51639bac3a264cf9352255e1?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b37e95ea51639bac3a264cf9352255e1?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daniel Rotsztain\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/danielrotsztain\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system - Spacing Toronto","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system - Spacing Toronto","og_description":"Last month, I joined a Lost Rivers walk within the PATH system. Typically engaged with tracing the routes of buried creeks within Toronto\u2019s topography, the Lost Rivers PATH walk was unique in its investigation of a part of the city so thoroughly urbanized that finding traces of what came before seems absurd. In its thirdContinue reading \"Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Toronto","article_published_time":"2015-02-10T15:44:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-02-11T16:45:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":614,"height":408,"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/01\/Toronto-Geologic-Force.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Daniel Rotsztain","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniel Rotsztain","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/","name":"Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system - Spacing Toronto","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/01\/Toronto-Geologic-Force.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-10T15:44:01+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-11T16:45:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/d67f017d4216048d87756f4aaf106c3b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/01\/Toronto-Geologic-Force.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/01\/Toronto-Geologic-Force.jpg","width":614,"height":408},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/02\/10\/toronto-geologic-force-lost-rivers-guide-path-system\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Toronto is a geologic force: the Lost Rivers guide to the PATH system"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/","name":"Spacing Toronto","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/d67f017d4216048d87756f4aaf106c3b","name":"Daniel Rotsztain","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b37e95ea51639bac3a264cf9352255e1?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b37e95ea51639bac3a264cf9352255e1?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Daniel Rotsztain"},"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/danielrotsztain\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8085"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50666"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50892,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50666\/revisions\/50892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}