A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
Hume on the matter, from the Star:
Street furniture designed to offend
Apr 09, 2007 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
Toronto Mayor David Miller wants us to believe he's committed to the idea of Toronto, the clean and beautiful.
If so, he should ensure that council refuses all three proposals for street furniture sent to the city last week.
The schemes were submitted by a trio of large media companies that would design and manufacture the furnishings in return for a portion of the advertising revenues they generate.
None of the entries – from Astral Media/Kramer Design, CBS Outdoor/Elements and Clear Channel/Zeidler Partnership – is worthy of being on the streets on Toronto. Indeed, they would only make a bad situation worse and set back the cause of cleaning up the city by years.
In all cases, the problem begins with the designs themselves: They are inappropriate, disconcertingly trendy, overdone and overpowering. They would only increase the rampant commercialization of the public realm.
Enough already. Yes, we know that advertising will be ubiquitous in a city as impoverished as Toronto, but there comes a point of diminishing returns, when less is more.
The city is inundated with ads and the last thing we need is to make a bad situation worse.
Interesting, too, that at least two of the three bidders – Astral Media and CBS Outdoor – are deeply implicated in erecting illegal billboards throughout Toronto. According to some estimates, between 1,500 and 2,000 outdoor ads at any one time are in violation of the law. The media companies know exactly what they're doing, but there's too much money to be made for them to bother with such niceties as legalities.
Councillor Joe Mihevc says they operate "in a rogue manner."
Jonathan Goldsbie, a third-year anthropology student at the University of Toronto and member of the Toronto Public Space Committee, has followed the issue for several years and is appalled by what he sees.
"At best, these proposals are overdesigned frills," he says. "At worst, they're billboards bent to vaguely resemble some physical civic amenity.
"This is what happens when you get a billboard company to design your city for you," he continues. "This would give the advertising companies everything they want. It would be terrible for the city."
And yet council seems to be charging ahead with the scheme regardless.
The current contract with Astral Media expires at the end of August.
And transportation services, which oversees the matter, is desperate to have something in place by Sept. 1.
This, of course, is a recipe for disaster.
The fear of being without a contract – and of having to cover the maintenance costs of Toronto's existing street furniture – seems to the driving force behind the city's unseemly haste.
Given that the contract would be in place for 20 years, it might be worth getting something decent, something that would enhance the city as well as provide garbage bins, benches, bicycle racks, bus shelters and the like.
If these amenities are as important as the city believes, then it has no choice but to start again.
There is no shame in this. Indeed, the city went through a similar process back in 1995 and decided against the submissions.
The jury assembled by the city will make its decision within a week or two.
If that body opts to do what's best for Toronto, rather than choose the least offensive of the proposals it will advise a return to the drawing board.
And if the city thought no one was paying attention and that it could sneak a decision through, it should think again.
Public interest in street furniture has never been greater; the planned one-day display of models at City Hall has been extended.
The public can see them tomorrow to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
And then there's the public space committee: "We're going to be there in force," Goldsbie promises.
"We'll do our best to embarrass the city and stop the contract."
AoD
Street furniture designed to offend
Apr 09, 2007 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
Toronto Mayor David Miller wants us to believe he's committed to the idea of Toronto, the clean and beautiful.
If so, he should ensure that council refuses all three proposals for street furniture sent to the city last week.
The schemes were submitted by a trio of large media companies that would design and manufacture the furnishings in return for a portion of the advertising revenues they generate.
None of the entries – from Astral Media/Kramer Design, CBS Outdoor/Elements and Clear Channel/Zeidler Partnership – is worthy of being on the streets on Toronto. Indeed, they would only make a bad situation worse and set back the cause of cleaning up the city by years.
In all cases, the problem begins with the designs themselves: They are inappropriate, disconcertingly trendy, overdone and overpowering. They would only increase the rampant commercialization of the public realm.
Enough already. Yes, we know that advertising will be ubiquitous in a city as impoverished as Toronto, but there comes a point of diminishing returns, when less is more.
The city is inundated with ads and the last thing we need is to make a bad situation worse.
Interesting, too, that at least two of the three bidders – Astral Media and CBS Outdoor – are deeply implicated in erecting illegal billboards throughout Toronto. According to some estimates, between 1,500 and 2,000 outdoor ads at any one time are in violation of the law. The media companies know exactly what they're doing, but there's too much money to be made for them to bother with such niceties as legalities.
Councillor Joe Mihevc says they operate "in a rogue manner."
Jonathan Goldsbie, a third-year anthropology student at the University of Toronto and member of the Toronto Public Space Committee, has followed the issue for several years and is appalled by what he sees.
"At best, these proposals are overdesigned frills," he says. "At worst, they're billboards bent to vaguely resemble some physical civic amenity.
"This is what happens when you get a billboard company to design your city for you," he continues. "This would give the advertising companies everything they want. It would be terrible for the city."
And yet council seems to be charging ahead with the scheme regardless.
The current contract with Astral Media expires at the end of August.
And transportation services, which oversees the matter, is desperate to have something in place by Sept. 1.
This, of course, is a recipe for disaster.
The fear of being without a contract – and of having to cover the maintenance costs of Toronto's existing street furniture – seems to the driving force behind the city's unseemly haste.
Given that the contract would be in place for 20 years, it might be worth getting something decent, something that would enhance the city as well as provide garbage bins, benches, bicycle racks, bus shelters and the like.
If these amenities are as important as the city believes, then it has no choice but to start again.
There is no shame in this. Indeed, the city went through a similar process back in 1995 and decided against the submissions.
The jury assembled by the city will make its decision within a week or two.
If that body opts to do what's best for Toronto, rather than choose the least offensive of the proposals it will advise a return to the drawing board.
And if the city thought no one was paying attention and that it could sneak a decision through, it should think again.
Public interest in street furniture has never been greater; the planned one-day display of models at City Hall has been extended.
The public can see them tomorrow to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
And then there's the public space committee: "We're going to be there in force," Goldsbie promises.
"We'll do our best to embarrass the city and stop the contract."
AoD