A key ambition of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games is extending the celebration of sports far beyond the field of play and into the numerous communities playing host to the Games. Toronto 2015’s Torch Relay, community programs, and temporary installations, have all been carefully planned to allow local communities to embrace the Games as their own and encourage the public to participate in sports. Bringing together all three elements is Art of Sport: Fitness Follies, a temporary public art installation by RAW Design.

Unveiled as part of the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games Torch Relay community celebration at Lakeside Park in Mississauga, Art of Sport transforms Mississauga’s waterfront trail into a celebration of sport, culture and art, inviting the public to engage their body in different ways. 

Commissioned by the City of Mississauga and funded by the Community Celebrations Fund for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games through Canada Heritage, Art of Sport: Fitness Follies is an abstract collection of sculptural objects that pay homage to outdoor fitness trails.

“We’re thrilled to be contributing to the Toronto 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games in Mississauga,” says Aaron Hendershott, an architect at RAW. “Public interaction is something we are consistently striving for in our designs. With Fitness Follies we’re encouraging people of all ages and abilities to engage with these pieces.”

There are three pieces that make up the entire installation: Synchronicity, Velocity and Colosseum. Each one is designed to engage the body in a different way, provoking participants to test their balance, agility and perception.



Synchronicity

Synchronicity envisions a group of figures based on martial arts dummies, giving the impression of synchronized group activities such as Tai‐Chi. Branching limbs at different heights offer platforms for climbing, hanging and exercises such as pull-ups.



Velocity

Velocity gives physical form to the motion and speed of a race. A sinuous track imitates three competitors engaged in a competition of speed, creating platforms at varying heights to invite climbing, hurdling and balancing.



Colosseum

Colosseum alludes to the arena, the podium and the relationship between audience and athlete. A concentric field of wooden poles at different heights and spacing invite participants to navigate atop, weave throughout or to sit on them. A podium at the centre of the circle invites visitors to imagine their own medal ceremony.

“Even though each installation was designed to support physical interaction, we wanted to ensure they took the form of sculptural artworks in the landscape,” says Roland Rom Colthoff, founder of RAW. “These installations are temporary, so we also wanted to focus on sustainability by utilizing reclaimed timber, used telephone poles and other found material, while the colour palette is meant to evoke the medals handed out during the Pan Am and Parapan Am games,” he added.