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PARTSIANS transforms power plant into venue for Toronto's Luminato Festival

#TurnOnTheHearn

PARTSIANS transforms power plant into venue for Toronto's Luminato Festival

Toronto’s 10th Luminato Festival will #TurnOnTheHearn from now until June 26.

To host the festival, Toronto-based architecture firm PARTISANS, in collaboration with theater and acoustics consultancy Charcoalblue, have repurposed the decommissioned Hearn Generating Station as a cultural center. The 400,000-square-foot space now serves a variety of purposes, including housing galleries, theaters, and cafes. A drone video captures the Hearn transformed:

One of the exhibits—dubbed Trove: A View of Toronto in 50 of its Treasures and curated by Luminato Festival Artistic Director Jörn Weisbrodt—features fifty photographs by Toronto-based artist Scott McFarland of treasured objects and artworks from the city’s private and public collections, The images are adhered onto the sides of the building. “Trove is like looking in a rear view mirror only the reflection reveals objects rarely before seen and stories yet untold,” the press release states.

PARTISANS designed a virtual gallery for Trove accessed via an augmented reality app “TheHearnAR.” The app was developed by PARTISANS and Norm Li Studios; the duo also developed a video game to #PlayTheHearn that permits the exploration of the space and festival.

PARTISANS has set up a temporary studio in the Hearn where it can engage with visitors and produce 3D models of the power plant and surrounding Port Lands. The models, created with the help of Ryerson University design students, will be a part of PARTISANS & Friends: Pop-Up Studio I & II, a two-part studio session in which designers and guests will imagine the future of Toronto. The discussion will range from the city’s infrastructure and architecture to its cultural and economic success. Guests will include: Halifax-based architecture firm Omar Gandhi, Toronto-based architecture firm UUfie, Luminato Festival Art Director Jörn Weisbrodt, and Toronto City Councillor Paula Fletcher.

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