Ryerson's
Department of Architectural Science has set its students the task of coming up with novel ideas about how to get more utility and "civility" out of our city's public spaces.
As part of a course led by Associate Professor
George Kapelos, students across the faculty have been put into teams to come up with useful public amenities for 16 subway-proximate spaces around the city, from Berczy Park near King station to a 629 square metre city-owned lot near Lawrence station.
Each design must include 15 elements such as a WiFi hotspot, a weather information post, protected seating and phone charging stations, along with at least five others chosen from a list of 22 options, incuding hot water dispensers, food warming stations and donation collection boxes.
The project is in line with the city's officially expressed desire to do likewise. As Kapelos says in the assignment brief he issued his students, "The City of Toronto is seeking to introduce public facilities on city-owned properties or public spaces adjacent to major transportation interchanges that provide civic amenities to the population of the city." The city has just installed the
second of a proposed 20 public toilets as part of its initiative.
Interim results will be on display this afternoon (Jan 9) between 2 and 4 p.m., and again on Friday after 6 p.m. The final designs will be on display in the form of posters starting at 6 p.m. on Friday at the school's atrium at 325 Church Street.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Prachi Khandekar
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