If you're unfamiliar with Jane Jacobs (and I claim very little knowledge myself), she was a writer and thinker whose book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, became a large influence on urban planning in the 1960s, mainly in the two cities she spent most of her life in, New York and Toronto. I haven't read the book myself, but from what I understand, it was a plea to conserve the history of cities, rather than simply demolishing whole neighbourhoods or buildings to make way for new things. Please feel free to correct me, if you should read this, and disagree.
In the 1950s and 60s, Toronto was going through a phase like this, with, for example, our original Chinatown being torn down to make way for the new City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square. Thankfully, there is still a thriving "old school" Chinatown in the Spadina and Dundas area, and vestiges of the first one can still be seen in a few businesses along Dundas, between Bay and University.
Many other buildings and areas were also slated for destruction, like the original City Hall, or the Annex neighbourhood. But with the advent of Jacobs' book, there was a re-thinking of this philosophy, and concerned politicians and citizens began taking action, the most well-known (or notorious, depending on your point of view) result being the halting of the Spadina Expressway, which would have spelled the end of the Annex area.
Being a person who simply enjoys walking around the city and exploring neighbourhoods, I'd always wanted to take part in events like these, and this year, I had the opportunity.
This will be a kind of photo essay on the two walks I went on, each with a different theme.
2:00 p.m.
The first was about "wayfinding," how you get from place to place in a city, how you find out where you are, and where to go next. The walk was carried out by employees of Entro Communications, who work with the city on things like signage.
We started at the new Student Learning Centre at Ryerson University, where it was pointed out that using consistent colours or logos was a good way to tell where you are - separate from the rest of the city, yet still within it, as is the case with Ryerson U.
We moved to Dundas Square, where there was too much noise for our initial host, Laura, to speak, so we moved to the Eaton Centre, from the noisy side along Yonge St., to the other, quieter side at Trinity Square. It's interesting to note that the original Trinity Church, from the 1800s, still stands here, though it's surrounded on all sides by modern buildings.
In the photo below, Laura talks about this area:
Then, we were joined by Udo, the nominal host for the walk, who had been delayed, but was able to catch up with us.
After that, it was on to Nathan Phillips Square, where Udo talked briefly about the building of our City Hall in the early 1960s, and then about the now-iconic TORONTO sign, which can be seen in the background:
At the southeast corner of NPS, Udo pointed out one of the new information pillars that have recently gone up, with maps and information about the immediate area. This sign has a feature about the history of the new City Hall.
Next was the Bay-Adelaide Centre, where there is this installation by American artist, James Turrell, called Straight Flush. These are actually openings in the wall, with the colours on the inner panels constantly shifting, as you'll see in my pics for the next walk.
See more about this and other installations at http://www.blogto.com/arts/2014/09/the_top_10_public_art_installations_in_toronto/
Then, it was over to the Design Exchange, which was the site of the original Toronto Stock Exchange, and now is an art and design gallery. You can see that there is a display of various pieces of 20th-century furniture in the background (making me curious to come back here and take a look):
And, away we went, underground, to explore and talk about wayfinding under the downtown. There was discussion about the PATH system (still notoriously difficult to use, in my opinion), and how many of the office buildings have their own signage up, alongside/despite the PATH signs.
Udo remarked how small the printing was on these signs, and it's a fair point. In the Royal Bank Plaza, for instance, there are very clear directional signs, with large print, that make them much easier to use than these more modest ones.
Then down to Union Station (southwest corner of Bay and Front), which is undergoing a makeover of its own. Udo pointed out that Union Station, designated as a Heritage Building, cannot be altered itself, but new additions can be made over and around it, which is what's happening.
He also mentioned the new signs, here and at York St., which are easy to read, large enough, and weather-resistant (one of the themes we discussed on the walk was the durability and relevance of maps, signage and information).
He also pointed out this information pillar, which is temporary during the renovations, and will eventually probably look like the one that we saw at Nathan Phillips Square:
Finally, going into Union Station, I decided to get a pic of one of the maps of the PATH system. Udo had pointed out that the maps themselves look lovely, very geometric and all, but the system itself is, as I said before, very hard to use, with many ways to become lost. Take a look at any of these maps (if you dare), and try to find an easy way from the Eaton Centre to Union Station.
I myself looked closely on this map for a "you are here" sticker (it should be near the bottom, to left of centre), but there was none to be found!
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| There are hand-held maps available, but they're not easy to find. I have one, but only stumbled on it by accident in the north lobby of the Royal Bank Plaza! |
4:00 p.m.
The second walk I took in was on the theme of hidden works of art in public places. Our guide was Ran, who works at City Hall in planning. This her introducing the walk:
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| She at least had a microphone, but the speaker kept dropping in & out! The best laid plans... |
We met at the Cloud Garden on Temperance St, between Yonge and Bay. Ran pointed out many features of this small park, particularly the tribute to workers, shown here.
Each filled square represents a different material, design or pattern used in construction, as a tribute to the workers who make the buildings you or I use every day. I assume in nicer weather, the creepers on the lower wall look quite attractive.
Then it was across the street, to the Bay-Adelaide Centre, and the same darn installation I had seen on the earlier walk, James Turrell's Straight Flush.
This time, though, you'll note that the colours have changed dramatically; they are set to a timed cycle, so that you can literally stand there and watch as they evolve.
We headed one building east, to see this fascinating installation, in the south side of the lobby of an office tower still partly under construction:
It's a black circle, about 30 feet in diameter, set into the white wall...
...which are both constructed of thousands of individual, hand-made ceramic tiles!
They are not painted - it's two different colours of tile set together to form the contrasting pattern, as you can see in this closer picture.
The piece is made to match another one on the north side of the lobby...
...which is kind of a "negative" of the first one, a black outline of the same size, but all in white...
...and made the same way, with painstakingly constructed and set tiles, as this zoom shot shows.
Remarkable!
Next, we walked to a space between two buildings, south of Adelaide, in between Yonge and Victoria Sts. Here, Ran heads toward the installation, entitled Synthetic Eden, the first part of which consists of these clear panels with organic shapes etched in them:
The centrepiece of the installation is these three sculptures, representing the life cycle of plants; at right, roots; centre, a blossom; and left, the stump of a dead tree:
Here are the same sculptures, from a different angle:
And finally, this piece on the wall represents biodiversity; looking closely, you can see all kinds of animal life depicted.
There's kind of a "garden of Eden" theme, with the serpent winding through the centre of the whole thing:
Our next stop was Courthouse Square, the site of Toronto's original courthouse (and in the past, of many public executions). There are different features here, with a common theme of "law."
To the left in this shot (looking south) is a water sculpture; then a bench, with legs made of giant books, presumably "law books;" and finally, a monolith with a human-sized opening, one side of which is labeled, "The Laws of Nature," and the other (not visible), "The Laws of Man":
Then, looking east, you see a kind of arbour, and a stone plinth (near centre), with more of the stylized "law books" on top:
Heading south on Church St., to just south of Front, there is this sculpture, Shoreline Commemorative, with a tripod shape supporting a globe with colours and lighting representing water and sky.
The bottom part, under our feet, represents the actual topography of Lake Ontario, which, if you didn't know, used to end at this exact point, just south of Front St.!
Sandblasted into the brick wall is this inscription, which, if you can't make it out, reads, in part:
"For 10,000 years, this was the location of Lake Ontario's shoreline.
"This brick wall stands where water and land met..."
Then, we headed towards Yonge St.,where, at Brookfield Place, there is this installation, called Garden Court. It's a circular oasis of evergreen trees...
...where you're welcome to go in and sit on any of the ten large boulders surrounding a circular reflecting pool at the centre.
As you can see, it was raining at this point, but thankfully, it didn't last.
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| (Post office building, on the south side of Front St., is visible in the background.) |
Next was the Air Canada Centre, where the Maple Leafs and Raptors ( and many musicians) play.
On the east side, there is this installation, called Wins, Losses, Ties.
Looking up, you see these metal tubes, each with a number inscribed in the bottom...
And looking down, you see these inlaid panels. Each one represents a decade in the life of the Toronto Maple Leafs, divided into seasons of play. When you match the circular incisions to the numbers on the poles directly above, you get the statistics for each season, i.e., wins, ties, and losses!
Here is a closer look at the first decade of the Maple Leafs' existence. You can more easily see how it works. And, they do make note of Stanley Cup wins - though I guess the last 40 years have been pretty blank!
Finally, going through the ACC to the west part of Maple Leaf Square, there are two more sculptures/installations to be seen.
In the foreground is John McEwen's Search Light, Star Light, Spot Light, metal cones with star shapes cut out. Apparently it's lit from inside at night, and looks pretty spectacular.
In the lower background is Soheil Mosun Ltd.'s Connection, a lighted footbridge between two buildings. It also changes colours. like Straight Flush.
Conclusion
Well, this afternoon was certainly an eye-opener for me. So many discoveries! As I mentioned above, there were many more walks than these that took place over the weekend. One person could certainly not take them all in!
In the past, I guess TWMVC concerts, or weather, or something, prevented me from attending Jane's Walks, but now that I know how interesting, fun and inspiring they are, I will definitely seek them out and participate in the future.
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