An exhibit about walkability not to be missed (1 May 2011 – 2 July 2011). A series of photographs transforms the issues of walkability in the city into a visceral experience. With a focus on the ground-level experience of Toronto’s high rise tower community, the collection of images demonstrates how difficult walking can be. These housing developments, designed in the 1960’s and 1970’s with the automobile in mind, are in need of attention in order to address the fundamental need to walk.

The exhibition is based on the work of Paul Hess, Associate Professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Geography and Program in Planning, with Jane’s Walk executive director Jane Farrow.

http://urbanspacegallery.ca/exhibits/walkability

The National Trust, in the UK, has launched a grass sofa project in outdoor spaces. A total of 300 couches have been installed as a reaction to the alarming amount of time (kids in particular) spend indoors. In Devon and Cornwall, “the average family spends up to 45 hours a week on their sofa”. This is a excellent example of Social Infill: sit back and watch outdoor-TV.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-global/w-news/w-latest_news/w-news-grasssofas.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8849000/8849740.stm

A couple of exciting art projects have recently taken place in city streets and parks.

In Toronto:
As part the Luminato Festival, artists George Bures Miller and Janet Cardif have installed a Chinese junk in Trinity-Bellwoods park. The Ship of Fools project is open daily to the public and is outfitted with an installation featuring a sound cycle and moving parts: “high technology and pure whimsy”.

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2010/06/10/cardiff-miller-ship.html

In New York:
Make Music New York is a one-day festival of free concerts in public spaces. Musicians played free outdoor concerts on streets, sidewalks, stoops, plazas, cemeteries, parks and gardens. It was a celebration of music making which brought activity into the civic realm.

In addition or organized concerts, the event saw the installation of 60 pianos in parks and plazas for the public to play. Each piano was tended by a piano buddy who would cover them in case of rain.

“Subversive… musical disruptions invite urban dwellers to abandon their tight routines and let the rhythms of the city take over… I would never hear, see, or feel anything like it again.” – Alex Ross, The New Yorker

http://makemusicny.org/gallery/

At the Art Gallery of Ontario, June 16, 6-8:30.

A NEW MAYORS VISION FOR ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN & PLANNING IN THE CITY OF TORONTO

http://www.pugawards.com/live/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/ahoy-arcs-in-port-at-bayview-and-sheppard/article1582968/

The sudden surge of city building and civic works along the new Sheppard subway line is remarkable. In no time, the population density along this otherwise quiet suburb thoroughfare exploded. We like this.

People who live above subway lines, presumably, sometimes take transit and do a fair bit of walking. The new buildings should reflect this situation and could meet the ground in more friendly ways.

John Bentley Mays’ piece on the new Arc building raises some interesting points about this important detail:

“… I do have some problems with the way the building hits the ground. There is no direct access to the subway from the bottom floor; the developer should have held out for permission to create it. The lobby is huge, dull and vacuous; it badly needs the enlivening touch of art. Retail, so far, is limited to a bank branch. More services should be brought on stream at grade to raise the pitch of activity on the barren suburban streets round about.”

Introducing the Great Dundas West Re-do from University Avenue to Bathurst Street.

http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/dundasw/

The City has recently announced streetscape improvements to this stretch of Dundas W, which will coincide with water-main work. The reworking of Dundas West is timely after the resounding success of two renovations nearby: The Ontario College of Art and Design and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Three cheers for investment into the public realm!

The City describes the section of Dundas W as a destination for visitors, that it’s “hectic and frenetic. But it’s also dishevelled and chaotic.” There is a danger that the Dundas re-do might involve aggressive beautification; that it might lose the qualities that make it the beloved hairy armpit of Toronto.

The City envisions a “consistent and exciting pedestrian experience” for this “Creative Corridor”. This is encouraging. We’re on board. There are opportunities to get involved through public meetings, community design workshops and virtual discussion. See you there.

FROM THE WEBSITE:
Community Design Workshop (charrette)
Please join us for a public design workshop to develop some specific ideas on how to improve Dundas Street. Participants will be putting pen to paper in small groups to collaboratively create strategies to improve the street. The results of this workshop will feed into the overall urban design concept. Details are:

Saturday, June 5, 2010 10:30 am – 2:30 pm
Ontario College of Art & Design (Main Auditorium)
100 McCaul Street
Please RSVP for this event as space is limited.