4
4Pook
Guest
the second set of Astral transit shelters was way more interesting looking and their bike system is elegant. Why is we need more of those honking ugly info pillars? none of those proposed are much of an improvement.
|
|
|
U
umademethisway
Guest
Astral has my vote.
A
adma
Guest
Actually, re the 10-minute toilet thing, this is an interesting thing I read in the G&M...
Hmmm...I wonder if these dewds are involved in the Astral proposal...
P
papamanjr
Guest
you'll have to excuse my ignorance here for a moment, but as I've never been across the pond to europe, I have to ask: what's the homeless situation like over there? I only ask because the first thing that popped into my head when looking at the public toilets was - look how pretty those homeless shelters are.
does anybody else see a problem here?
does anybody else see a problem here?
B
Brighter Hell
Guest
Are the bike lockers really necessary? Seems like they'll take up a lot of space. If someone needs to lock up their bike in a locker I don't know if that's something the city needs to provide.
The garbage containers look nice enough but I really hope they're not made of plastic.
My biggest beef is the postering boards and info bins - they're way too elaborate. The rubber surface will just get covered in rusty staples like the hydro poles now. The only postering boards/collars I've seen before are made of steel so posters are taped up - staples are eliminated altogether. Ottawa has simple stainless steel poster collars that do the job just fine.
^You can still see posters on utility poles so the collars haven't completely eliminated that in Ottawa.
Overall I don't like Clearchannel. I can't decide between CBS and Astral. CBS has clean, simple design. I like their benches, info pillars, and garbage bins. Astral is a more distinctive, plus the look builds on the existing transit shelters. I like their newspaper bins.
The garbage containers look nice enough but I really hope they're not made of plastic.
My biggest beef is the postering boards and info bins - they're way too elaborate. The rubber surface will just get covered in rusty staples like the hydro poles now. The only postering boards/collars I've seen before are made of steel so posters are taped up - staples are eliminated altogether. Ottawa has simple stainless steel poster collars that do the job just fine.
^You can still see posters on utility poles so the collars haven't completely eliminated that in Ottawa.
Overall I don't like Clearchannel. I can't decide between CBS and Astral. CBS has clean, simple design. I like their benches, info pillars, and garbage bins. Astral is a more distinctive, plus the look builds on the existing transit shelters. I like their newspaper bins.
C
cassiusa
Guest
The City isn't paying for them, so why not? Isn't Toronto the bike-theft capital of North America? All I know is I've had 2 bikes stolen in the last 14 months (why do people feel the need to ask the silly question of if they were locked up or not??)
B
building babel
Guest
I think the bomb lockers are a lovely idea.
I
interchange42
Guest
If the public toilets will work the same way they do in Europe, after your ten minutes are up, the room is sanitized - I think by steam and then dry heat. I don't know if people staying in them would survive the scalding too well.
Design-wise, I like Astral's 100 series best. It is simple, and while it has clean lines, it still has some flair to it. The fact that it already coordinates with some existing street furniture is another bonus, as we won't end up wasting materials replacing every existing piece that's out there now.
CBS's look is relatively clean and pleasing too. In Clear Channel's line-up, I like the irregularly shaped glass canopies over the structures - they are a pleasing bit of whimsy in such an angular world.
42
Design-wise, I like Astral's 100 series best. It is simple, and while it has clean lines, it still has some flair to it. The fact that it already coordinates with some existing street furniture is another bonus, as we won't end up wasting materials replacing every existing piece that's out there now.
CBS's look is relatively clean and pleasing too. In Clear Channel's line-up, I like the irregularly shaped glass canopies over the structures - they are a pleasing bit of whimsy in such an angular world.
42
B
building babel
Guest
My father had a harrowing experience trying to take a pee in an automatic loo in Pisa - it went berserk, the doors kept opening and shutting erratically, he tried to jump in and almost got sliced in half ... and once inside, of course, he had no privacy.
B
building babel
Guest
Frankly, all of these submissions remind me of the general problem with the NPS redesign finalists - they're overdesigned and try too hard. And flaws with the existing Astral Media shelters haven't been corrected - the seats, for instance, pool liquids ( rain, snow even ) at their low point and this could have been fixed with a network of small holes.
S
spmarshall
Guest
Though the Astral Media shelters look like the current ones (I wonder if this is the case to allow them to keep the old ones), they are owned by Mediacom/Viacom/CBS.
Hume was saying that they were trying too hard too. I agree with parts - why bother with the crazy InfoToGo pillars, when simple circular lit pillars would work better and be simpler, like the ones in Montreal or Europe.
Hume was saying that they were trying too hard too. I agree with parts - why bother with the crazy InfoToGo pillars, when simple circular lit pillars would work better and be simpler, like the ones in Montreal or Europe.
A
AlchemisTO
Guest
Other than our garbage cans, the street furniture in Toronto is comfortably unobtrusive, maybe even good. The new bus shelters look decent; the ring and post bike locks are maybe even iconic. Why mess with what already works? If we are going to run a design charette for street furniture, why not direct them toward our parks which are looking really haggard these days.
B
building babel
Guest
Or our homeless, who are also not looking their best.
P
prometheus the supremo
Guest
that would be a plus. they could double as colanders.
W
wyliepoon
Guest
Link to article
Keep it simple, spare us frills
Mar 29, 2007 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
Too much design can be just as bad as too little.
The three proposed schemes for Toronto's street furniture program, released yesterday, make that painfully clear. This trio of packages – each of which includes bus shelters, benches, notice boards, trash cans, bike racks and even public toilets – would give the city more than it physically needs but less than it psychologically wants.
No question, any of these "collections" does the job in terms of providing for the creature comforts of Torontonians and their visitors. But the real task here is to help create an image of the city, to make a statement about who we are and how we view ourselves.
The most familiar of the offerings, from Astral Media and Kramer Design, builds on the existing transit shelters and information kiosks that can already be seen throughout the city. Modern, even futuristic, the look here is clean, crisp but overly self-conscious. The Info-To-Go stands are especially intrusive; their large glass "wings" are distracting and so specific in style that it seems unlikely they will be able to fit in with the urban context no matter where they're placed.
A better approach would have been to fashion street furnishings that make a virtue of restraint and which perform their function without calling more attention to themselves than necessary.
The Kramer "multi-publication structure" is more successful; with its clean metallic exterior, it looks neat and tidy, designed to be noticeable but not noisy.
The second submission, from CBS Outdoors and Elements, seems to aspire to a state of almost perfect invisibility. The shelters consist overwhelmingly of glass, so much so that one can imagine people walking into them by accident.
The litter bin is straightforward, utilitarian and, to be honest, boring. Does that matter? Well, yes and no. Perhaps no one would expect a garbage can to be beautiful, but such a thing does exist. Despite their lowly purpose, don't forget, there will be thousands of these bins on Toronto streets. So why not make them as attractive as possible?
The third entry, Clear Channel and Zeidler Partnership, is the most exuberant. The designers have obviously set out to have fun and bring a sense of playfulness to the city. This is most evident in the "bicycle parking units," which have a nice Flintstone kind of wonkiness.
On the other hand, the bicycle lockers, a new addition to the streets, are clunky and would only make our already cluttered sidewalks more of an obstacle course. Besides, to install enough to make a difference would mean hundreds if not thousands; there just isn't enough space.
The Clear Channel multi-publication structures would do little to enhance the city; neither would their information/wayfinding kiosks.
Indeed, for some strange reason none of the designers seem to be able to deal with the humble information pillar. All have opted for bizarre objects with weird glass shapes on top, all utterly unconvincing. Think of those basic but dignified circular structures that were long a fixture in Paris and imagine what's possible.
As a great architect once said, less is more. Never was the truth of his words more apparent than in these schemes. There's something misguided, even ridiculous, about wanting to tart up a pole that will immediately be plastered with posters. So why bother?
Besides, isn't there something to be said for honesty in design? Let the thing be what it wants to be. If it's true that form follows function, then it's time for this trio to get back to the drawing board and start again.
Keep it simple, spare us frills
Mar 29, 2007 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
Too much design can be just as bad as too little.
The three proposed schemes for Toronto's street furniture program, released yesterday, make that painfully clear. This trio of packages – each of which includes bus shelters, benches, notice boards, trash cans, bike racks and even public toilets – would give the city more than it physically needs but less than it psychologically wants.
No question, any of these "collections" does the job in terms of providing for the creature comforts of Torontonians and their visitors. But the real task here is to help create an image of the city, to make a statement about who we are and how we view ourselves.
The most familiar of the offerings, from Astral Media and Kramer Design, builds on the existing transit shelters and information kiosks that can already be seen throughout the city. Modern, even futuristic, the look here is clean, crisp but overly self-conscious. The Info-To-Go stands are especially intrusive; their large glass "wings" are distracting and so specific in style that it seems unlikely they will be able to fit in with the urban context no matter where they're placed.
A better approach would have been to fashion street furnishings that make a virtue of restraint and which perform their function without calling more attention to themselves than necessary.
The Kramer "multi-publication structure" is more successful; with its clean metallic exterior, it looks neat and tidy, designed to be noticeable but not noisy.
The second submission, from CBS Outdoors and Elements, seems to aspire to a state of almost perfect invisibility. The shelters consist overwhelmingly of glass, so much so that one can imagine people walking into them by accident.
The litter bin is straightforward, utilitarian and, to be honest, boring. Does that matter? Well, yes and no. Perhaps no one would expect a garbage can to be beautiful, but such a thing does exist. Despite their lowly purpose, don't forget, there will be thousands of these bins on Toronto streets. So why not make them as attractive as possible?
The third entry, Clear Channel and Zeidler Partnership, is the most exuberant. The designers have obviously set out to have fun and bring a sense of playfulness to the city. This is most evident in the "bicycle parking units," which have a nice Flintstone kind of wonkiness.
On the other hand, the bicycle lockers, a new addition to the streets, are clunky and would only make our already cluttered sidewalks more of an obstacle course. Besides, to install enough to make a difference would mean hundreds if not thousands; there just isn't enough space.
The Clear Channel multi-publication structures would do little to enhance the city; neither would their information/wayfinding kiosks.
Indeed, for some strange reason none of the designers seem to be able to deal with the humble information pillar. All have opted for bizarre objects with weird glass shapes on top, all utterly unconvincing. Think of those basic but dignified circular structures that were long a fixture in Paris and imagine what's possible.
As a great architect once said, less is more. Never was the truth of his words more apparent than in these schemes. There's something misguided, even ridiculous, about wanting to tart up a pole that will immediately be plastered with posters. So why bother?
Besides, isn't there something to be said for honesty in design? Let the thing be what it wants to be. If it's true that form follows function, then it's time for this trio to get back to the drawing board and start again.