The Agency of Infrastructure From Desert to Oasis

Underlying infrastructures organize and manage complex systems of movement and exchange and can set the stage for future development. However, when developed as a mechanism primarily devoted to solving transportation engineering issues, they can contribute to the creation of inhospitable places in a city. This thesis project primarily explores how transit infrastructure, specifically the development of the new Ontario Transit Line in Toronto can act as a public agency to reinvigorate the transit desert community of Thorncliffe Park. Specifically, the project examines infrastructure under the following lens: as a community builder and public amenity; as a spatial definer and connector; and the train line as an animator of the public realm. This thesis argues that infrastructure, conceived as architecture, through a lens of agency can still provide efficient access and diverse modes of transportation to other parts of the city, while creating a connected, integrated, and engaging community fabric.