Rocket Talk: Can Sunday Subway Service Start Sooner?
Newsstand: November 19, 2009
Gender Studies Coming to a High School Near You
Please Insert Station and Try Again
The Art of Not Knowing
What ho? As the Yonge-Dundas Irregular Polygon burrows ever deeper into the hearts of Torontonians like that thing from The Wrath of Kahn, news arrives from the email circuit about what fresh terrors may await the North side of Dundas:
We can't speak to how this might impact the safety or the economy of the neighborhood but as to it's effect on the urban psychic space, we will, with confidence, unleash a resounding "aaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
Beyond the obvious benefits to beloved local businesses, McDonald's and Coke, we find it fascinating that the developer of the building that lurks behind the signs somehow managed to take a structure that is not a parking lot, and make it look like one anyway. This would be a clear improvement over the actual parking lot that stood near that corner for so long.
Pretentions to becoming the next Manhattan, only without the population denisity, history, mass, height, wealth or comittment to public safety aside, "aaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
Thanks to the temples-rubbing, spectacles-removing Ken Steubing and co. for forwarding this to our attention.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Ah, the power of blogs. I send one little link to Spacing Wire yesterday to get word out on this, and mission accomplished. This story is now everywhere, and thank goodness for that. Hopefully all this attention will mobilize the people in this city who don't want to stare at this thing. I just hope that there is still a window of opportunity to put a stop to most of those ads plastered on the building.
I'd really like to meet the city councillor who took a trip to Times Square and decided that's what Toronto needed.
His name is Kyle Rae and he's a huge architecture booster.... which begs the question, why bother designing nice buildings when you're just going to cover them with ugly ads?
I can see getting swept up in the energy and draw of Times Square, but I don't think we can recreate that energy simply by mimicing its outward appearance. A better solution would be one that's natural to THIS city and preferably unique.
Didn't Toronto's Mom ever tell it to just be itself, be a good city and people would like it?
This is just sickening...
i agree with jill, i love times square in the city i call him, but this is really nothing like it.
That parking lot (on Victoria) still exists, and is currently still eminently visible from Y/D square. It's not clear from the sketches what they're intending to do to cover it up, or what. Build in front of it? Are they planning to demolish that garage eventually?
Also, where's the northern Y&D canopy in that sketch?
What I find amusing about that picture is that it is itself an ad for the design company that does these ad structures. (Kramer design has a distinct presence in Toronto -- they were responsible for (design of) the Eaton Centre media tower to the west, the hard rock cafe media facade to the south, and the TTC glass transit shelters (with the one solid ad wall), among other things.
So this is an ad whose true purpose is to say, look at the ads you will be able to sell here.
Oh and kramer design also designed those newfangled info posts as well.
"seamlessly integrates with Toronto's many urban environments"
Umm, yeah.
http://www.kramer-design.com/images/infotogo_21.jpg
I emailed Kyle Rae today, expressing how horrid I think this is and here's the response I got:
Rick,
City Council approved this project in 1998 and it was ratified by the Ontario Municipal Board in the same year. I am thrilled that this project is finally under construction. Although the ads shown in the artist's rendering may change depending on the tenants in the building, the variances to the sign by-law for large outdoor ads were approved along with the rest of the project.
This is a private property development that has long been approved by both Council and the Board and has been fully supported by the downtown business community as part of the revitalization of Yonge and Dundas.
Kyle Rae
City Councillor
sickening. and what disturbs me even more is the short length of time its probably going to take toronto to get used to it.
Horsehit!
I like it!
I'm gonna throw up if I look at that picture one more time.
must buy stuff....must buy stuff ....
consumer, consume, consume.
I think this thing is ugly. But Kyle Rae's letter brings up an important point:
We, the people of Toronto, had a lot of time to complain about this monstrosity.
This thing went to council, it even went to the OMB, its been around for a long time.
There's a process and we dropped the ball.
True enough, but don't we elect these councillors to represent us in government? Look how many people are against this? Who's for it? Ok, who's for it that DOESN'T work in advertising or big business in general?
Time to clean house, municipally, sez I.
Clean house indeed!
But look at the ward. The area that this is in is primarily a business area already. Yonge Street has been deteriorating for years. This project is seen as a much needed revitalisation. We may think it is ugly, but businesses DO want to open up here. They certainly weren't lining up to locate between Dundas and College. Still aren't. The immediate area has few residents who would complain that this area seem s to be pulling back from the brink.
It is easy for me to call this ugly and a blight. I live in Trinity-Spadina. Away from the issues of Yonge St.
This building isn't for Torontonians, much like Dundas and Yonge isn't for us either. It's for tourists.
I find the building horrendous, much like I find the square across the street disgusting and lame, but thankfully as a Torontonian I have other areas to go and avoid this monstrosity.
Although I dislike the message it sends to tourists. We're New York Lite!
Was this specific drawing made public in 1998? Perhaps in a locked filing cabinet marked "beware the leopard?"
In 1998 I hadn't lived here long enough to understand anything that was happening in the city. So all I can do is whine NOW.
Might not have tipped the scales anyway. From what I've heard, the OMB will push through a project based on its commercial viability, even if the city and it's whiny, whiny people reject it. The folks on that board were appointed by the Harris government.
I really think if we're going to be giant and commercial and nasty, we should be giant and commercial and nasty in our OWN way. At least then we'll have something to show for and say about it.
Jill, while its true the Harris govt appointed a lot of people to the OMB, it has been around for a lot longer than Mike Harris (Wikipedia says since 1897!) and has been working pretty much the same way since then. I have been to a few hearings. They are semi-judicial. I would agree that they seem to side on the development but there is a reason for that. And its a dirty secret.
Eeenteresting. That's a slightly different story than I had heard previously.
f uuuugly
That looks disgusting...
I dont get it. Is this thing supposed to fill out that empty lot thats plastered with all those cosmetics ads or what?
stop the NEXT one: here's how.
It's pretty disingenuous for Rae to say it's all been approved and why didn't we complain when the variances were applied for.
Sign variances are arranged so that there's almost no chance of public input.
You wouldn't know it, but Toronto has very strict rules about outdoor advertising. Certain kinds of ads are completely prohibited, such as video billboards.
But every month, advertising companies are permitted to request "variances" from the sign bylaws at Community Council meetings, and you can see the results all around you.
The variance applications are generally not discussed or debated. In most cases, they are simply rubber-stamped. No public notification is required, no matter how big, bright or intrusive the sign is. The meetings' agendas are usually posted on the web only a couple of days in advance.
City staff is generally pretty good about recommending that big billboards be refused - but unfortunately, councillors routinely ignore them.
The reasons are uncertain. And what public good does it serve? Contrary to popular belief, the city does not make any money from these billboards. However, ad companies like Viacom Outdoor are big financial contributors to many city councillors' election campaigns.
Join the Billboard Battalion!
The good news is that we've found that even a small amount of pressure is often enough to make councillors reconsider.
About once a month, Billboard Battalion members receive an email that outlines what billboards are being proposed that month. All you have to do is dash off one or two quick emails to the listed councillors.
Since we've started this campaign we've seen a number of variance applications refused which would have almost certainly have been approved in the past. It seems that when councillors have to stop to consider whether they want to be publicly associated with approving another eyesore, they think twice.
www.publicspace.ca/battalion.htm
If we're gonna "clean house" of Rae, today's the day.