Toronto’s Richmond Adelaide Centre (RAC)

Recently, leading global real estate investor Oxford Properties Group (‘Oxford’) engaged MASSIVart for a multi-phased placemaking and cultural programming initiative at their future-focused complex, Richmond-Adelaide Centre, after collaborating on several retail projects since 2018.

The year-long collaboration consists of creative placemaking programming to activate the Richmond-Adelaide Centre’s plaza in the centre of downtown Toronto, with the goal of creating a new welcoming, engaging and vibrant space for both workers and neighbourhood visitors. The programming will include seasonal activations adapted to the needs of each season, from the winter blues to the summer heat.

As placemaking increasingly becomes a creative new way of marketing for real estate investors, the need for experienced placemakers has become more present than ever. Our strategy with placemaking seeks not only to enhance the quality of life of locals but also to attract investment, residents, visitors or tenants.

Effective placemaking attracts visitors to public spaces and increases brand awareness as they increasingly share their experiences on social media. It is proving to be a powerful tool for developers to promote their places as new destinations.

Throughout the year MASSIVart and Oxford will collaborate on fostering and strengthening social vibrancy through engaging public spaces and authentic experiences at Richmond-Adelaide Centre. With the objective to connect Oxford teams and customers in meaningful and memorable ways, we aim to transform their workplace into an engaging destination, thus bolstering social connections, and contributing to the positive balance of mind, body and soul.

To make this a reality, MASSIVart and Richmond-Adelaide Centre launched their first activation on February 7, 2022, the majestic moonGARDEN poetic installation, bringing joy and wonderment to a gloomy time of year.

Lucion’s moonGARDEN, powered by Wireframe, is the perfect metaphor for a more inclusive world. The installation consists in self-inflating spheres from six to 30 feet in diameter. The sequence, based on a single stream of light, produces an enchanting animation reminiscent of the lamps that made shadows dance on the walls when we were children.

The area is now a place of interactions, relationships, creation and innovation, bridging communities and creating social cohesion. The installation has already been featured in several articles like the ones on blogTO and Narcity.