Soteria

Soteria is the Greek goddess of salvation, deliverance, and preservation from harm. While in the midst of a global pandemic and on the brink of climate change disaster, we find ourselves holding these ideas increasingly closer to ourselves. Our proposal is a low-cost, low-impact intervention that explores materials, shapes, and textures commonly associated with protection from the effects of climate change - like flooding - and translates them into an eye-catching, interactive installation.

The use of sandbags emulates the increasing prevalance of sandbags along the City’s waterfronts as extreme climate events worsen, flooding of the City’s rivers becomes more common, and the levels of Lake Ontario rise up onto Woodbine Beach. Furthermore, Soteria recalls shelters typically used in the Middle East to temporarily house climate refugees. Finally, this installation uses sandbags to provide shelter not from water, but from wind, and to provide a playful, colourful refuge for children during these difficult times.

Proposal for Winter Stations 2021.