Wavelengths

Selected through an international competition, Paul Raff Studio designed a water-like public artwork for the Market Wharf condominium. Suspended overhead within a vehicular and pedestrian passage running from Market Street to Jarvis Street, south of St. Lawrence Market, Wavelengths captures the dynamic surface of Lake Ontario, bringing atmosphere and visual interest to a transitional urban space.

Until approximately 90 years ago, Lake Ontario covered the site. At the level of the passage ceiling, its surface once glittered and heaved for millennia. Wavelengths recalls this history, translating the movement of water into a fixed, sculptural form experienced from below.

Composed of 106 custom fire-retardant fibreglass panels, each measuring 6 by 10 feet, the artwork forms a continuous ceiling suspended from a steel frame. Five variations of wave patterns tessellate across the surface, creating a shifting field of light and form. As light moves across the panels, the work evokes the changing luminosity of the lake, linking past and present through material and perception.

In transforming a passageway into a spatial experience, Wavelengths elevates the everyday, offering a moment of light, colour, and reflection within the city.