Tamil Cultural Centre, Toronto

The Tamil Cultural Centre in Toronto draws inspiration from the Tamil Language. Tamil is a 5,000-year-old language that is the source of identity and unity in Tamil culture, personified as a mother and god. 

The building program is organized in a linear fashion and wrapped with a glass volume that acts as the main circulation spine. The glass volume unifies the building program and acts as a place where the users collect (unify) as they move from program to program space. The glass volume, by its juxtaposition, wraps around the program spaces, almost hugging and protecting like a mother her child. Tamil script on the façade provides a sense of identity.