Public Launch: Cool by Design

Celebrate , The Bentway’s recently released report that brings together interdisciplinary perspectives to explore the vital role of shade in public spaces and examines how design, culture, and community engagement can help rapidly warming northern cities respond to heat.

Building upon findings from the City of Toronto’s Thermal Comfort Guidelines, developed in partnership with DIALOG and Buro Happold, and insights from The Bentway's 2025 public art program, speakers will examine shade as essential public health and social infrastructure. The Bentway’s unique site beneath Toronto’s longest urban canopy, the Gardiner Expressway offers practical lessons for the city’s future, showing how artists, designers, and everyday residents can help shape a cooler, more connected urban life.

The event will feature a panel discussion that brings together leading experts—landscape architect Fadi Masoud, environmental journalist and author Sam Bloch, and associate and senior urban designer at DIALOG, Dorsa Jalalian—to place the report’s ideas into dialogue. The panel will be moderated by CEO of The Bentway Ilana Altman.

This talk is presented in collaboration with DIALOG, whose leadership in climate-responsive public-space design research helped shape both the publication and seasonal programming.

Read the report Cool by Design: The Power of Shade in Public Space: https://thebentway.ca/publication/cool-by-design/

If you can no longer make it, please cancel your ticket in Eventbrite so we may accommodate others.

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