NXT City and Pavilion Project are hosting an event on March 23, 2017 here in Toronto (at the Drake Hotel) called Short Term, Lasting Impact.
It’s all about how “temporary, low-cost and scalable [urban] interventions” can bring about lasting / meaningful change within our cities.
Here’s some info on the panelists / topics:
Matt Rubinoff, Tusk Global // STACKT
This temporary shipping container market proposes a visionary complex with everything from retail and restaurants to studio spaces and a brewery. What are some of the challenges of bringing an unconventional project to life?
Rui Pimenta & Layne Hinton, Art Spin // IN/FUTURE ART FESTIVAL
This art experience reclaimed a beloved Toronto space, transforming it briefly through a multidisciplinary art and music festival. What opportunities can site-specific events bring to celebrate underused spaces?
Michael McLelland, ERA Architects // PORTLANDS PROJECT
There are many long-term and competing visions for Toronto’s Portlands. How do we make best use of this prime city site today? How can short-term planning inform a future agenda and create critical cultural space in the near-term?
I know the folks behind both of these non-profits (NXT City and Pavilion Project), and so I am happy to support this event. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.
On Friday, November 25th, NXT City will be hosting a one-day symposium here in Toronto (re:Public) that brings together some of the top people, projects, and ideas in the world of public spaces. Following that will be an after party (called NXT City Night) that runs from 8pm to very late. :)
Here are some of the organizations that will be represented at the symposium: City of Toronto, Uber, CivicAction, Monocle, Arup, STEPS Initiative, Breather, The Laneway Project, Oxford Properties, as well as many others. It will be a great event.
For the full speaker list, the agenda, and to buy tickets, click here. There’s an under 35 / student offering for both the symposium during the day and the after party at night. If you attend during the day though, you automatically get a pass to the after-party. I hope to see you there.
Here’s a time lapse video from NXT City Night (edition 2015). If you can’t see it below, click here.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i6R687sdk0?rel=0&w=560&h=315]
“It is difficult to design a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.” -William Whyte
In 1980, the sociologist and urbanist William Whyte published a revolutionary book called The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.
The ambition was to discover why some urban plazas are successful and why many others fail. And to do that, he went out and studied urban plazas throughout New York using video and simple observation, such as head counting.
His work has been hugely influential for architects, designers, and other urbanists. But if you think about how often we fail at creating urban spaces that actually attract people, I think it’s worthwhile revising what Whyte discovered way back in the 70s and 80s.
Some of the principles – such as providing places to sit – are dead simple and intuitive. But again, a lot of urban spaces suck. So we’re clearly not doing it.
The other thing I feel we often forget is that it’s not just the space itself that matters, it’s also the urban fabric around it. The Seagram Building in New York plays a central role in Whyte’s work as an example of a successful urban plaza.
But we can’t forget that Mies van der Rohe’s simple gesture of setting the tower back from the street is strengthened by the remaining urban fabric and the activity along Park Avenue. The plaza acts as a kind of release.
Alongside the book, Whyte also published a 60 minute video. If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend you watch it when you get a chance. Click here if you can’t see the video below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjxXTsHgc8g&w=420&h=315]
To close out this post, I thought it would be fun if everyone shared their favorite public urban space in the comment section. It can be in your city or it could just be a place you’ve visited.
To kick things off, I’m going to go with with a space that’s close to home: Berczy Park. It has lots of places to sit, including movable chairs. There’s a great water feature. And it’s well connected to the rest of the area and surrounding streets. I often sit there during lunch or when I just want to think.
It’s also in the midst of a revitalization and I’m excited to see that come together.
NXT City and Pavilion Project are hosting an event on March 23, 2017 here in Toronto (at the Drake Hotel) called Short Term, Lasting Impact.
It’s all about how “temporary, low-cost and scalable [urban] interventions” can bring about lasting / meaningful change within our cities.
Here’s some info on the panelists / topics:
Matt Rubinoff, Tusk Global // STACKT
This temporary shipping container market proposes a visionary complex with everything from retail and restaurants to studio spaces and a brewery. What are some of the challenges of bringing an unconventional project to life?
Rui Pimenta & Layne Hinton, Art Spin // IN/FUTURE ART FESTIVAL
This art experience reclaimed a beloved Toronto space, transforming it briefly through a multidisciplinary art and music festival. What opportunities can site-specific events bring to celebrate underused spaces?
Michael McLelland, ERA Architects // PORTLANDS PROJECT
There are many long-term and competing visions for Toronto’s Portlands. How do we make best use of this prime city site today? How can short-term planning inform a future agenda and create critical cultural space in the near-term?
I know the folks behind both of these non-profits (NXT City and Pavilion Project), and so I am happy to support this event. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.
On Friday, November 25th, NXT City will be hosting a one-day symposium here in Toronto (re:Public) that brings together some of the top people, projects, and ideas in the world of public spaces. Following that will be an after party (called NXT City Night) that runs from 8pm to very late. :)
Here are some of the organizations that will be represented at the symposium: City of Toronto, Uber, CivicAction, Monocle, Arup, STEPS Initiative, Breather, The Laneway Project, Oxford Properties, as well as many others. It will be a great event.
For the full speaker list, the agenda, and to buy tickets, click here. There’s an under 35 / student offering for both the symposium during the day and the after party at night. If you attend during the day though, you automatically get a pass to the after-party. I hope to see you there.
Here’s a time lapse video from NXT City Night (edition 2015). If you can’t see it below, click here.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i6R687sdk0?rel=0&w=560&h=315]
“It is difficult to design a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.” -William Whyte
In 1980, the sociologist and urbanist William Whyte published a revolutionary book called The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.
The ambition was to discover why some urban plazas are successful and why many others fail. And to do that, he went out and studied urban plazas throughout New York using video and simple observation, such as head counting.
His work has been hugely influential for architects, designers, and other urbanists. But if you think about how often we fail at creating urban spaces that actually attract people, I think it’s worthwhile revising what Whyte discovered way back in the 70s and 80s.
Some of the principles – such as providing places to sit – are dead simple and intuitive. But again, a lot of urban spaces suck. So we’re clearly not doing it.
The other thing I feel we often forget is that it’s not just the space itself that matters, it’s also the urban fabric around it. The Seagram Building in New York plays a central role in Whyte’s work as an example of a successful urban plaza.
But we can’t forget that Mies van der Rohe’s simple gesture of setting the tower back from the street is strengthened by the remaining urban fabric and the activity along Park Avenue. The plaza acts as a kind of release.
Alongside the book, Whyte also published a 60 minute video. If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend you watch it when you get a chance. Click here if you can’t see the video below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjxXTsHgc8g&w=420&h=315]
To close out this post, I thought it would be fun if everyone shared their favorite public urban space in the comment section. It can be in your city or it could just be a place you’ve visited.
To kick things off, I’m going to go with with a space that’s close to home: Berczy Park. It has lots of places to sit, including movable chairs. There’s a great water feature. And it’s well connected to the rest of the area and surrounding streets. I often sit there during lunch or when I just want to think.
It’s also in the midst of a revitalization and I’m excited to see that come together.
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