Sue Ann Levy: Bloated and Mismanaged

Just wanted to relay a fun little back and forth on Twitter today involving Sue Ann Levy.  For those who don’t know her, Sue…Ann is a columnist for the Toronto Sun who ostensibly monitors the City Hall beat.  Or, to quote her delightful witticism, “Socialist Silly Hall”.  Do you see what she does there?  You see, Silly Hall is a lot like City Hall, and Socialist is, well, the opposite of this conservative ink slinger.  For our U.S. viewers, imagine Glenn Beck with a little less hysterics, the same level of hyperbole and lack of journalistic integrity, and arguably worse hair.

In any case, I’ve about had it with people in Toronto bemoaning the recent TTC fare increase (for a solid analysis of this increase check out Steve Munro’s blog).  Sue Ann, of course, had to weigh in via her Twitter account:

 

 

 

 

 

Sliding the Past into the Future

Came across this terrific slide show (in more ways than one, waaah wah) posted on the NY Times examining the fall of the Berlin Wall.  First time I’d seen a technique like this presented so elegantly.  Check it out, I guarantee you’ll get hooked on sliding the pictures back and forth. (As an aside, I can’t figure out if photographers were commissioned to recreate the old pictures, or if they are stock photos photo-shopped to match – anyone know?)

Anyway, as cool as this is, the real reason this grabbed my attention was the perspective it offered on both the loss of older buildings in a city, but more importantly the reuse of older buildings.  Some are restored, some are integrated into newer buildings.  Before/after photo comparisons aren’t anything new, but the ability to seamlessly layer the pictures in this way provides a terrific opportunity to examine what happened to the buildings in the photographs.

Toronto has design lessons to teach?

Don’t you just love when you come up with a timely post that is validated by someone else?

Benjamin Forgey (all the smart people are named Ben) had a nice piece in the Washington Business Journal recounting his recent visit to Toronto and his impressions of the AGO, ROM and OCAD, and what lessons Washington D.C. planners can take.

His take on the AGO is especially nice, and sums up what I tried to express in my previous post by saying the AGO makes me “happy”.  He just does it a bit more elegantly.

Check out the article here, it’s worth a read.

Thanks go to Urban Toronto contributor yyzer for the tip.

Architecture and Anger

Interesting piece from Christopher Hume yesterday examining Alain de Botton’s new book The Architecture of Happiness.  The basic idea is that architecture has the power to influence our emotions positively or negatively (or in Toronto’s case, not at all).  De Botton points to the shift towards modernism in the 20th century, the advent of the automobile, and the decline of female influences in architecture as examples of where missteps occurred.

The result? Architects who engage in “endless ‘professional posturing’ and the absence of beauty as a goal of architecture.”  We are left with architecture that rarely makes our spirits soar, often angers us and typically leaves us unimpressed.  Think of your typical reaction to this scenario: a mid-rise historical skyscraper is slated for demolition; the replacement, a towering glass cube bereft of character, architectural details and, yes, emotion.  I tend to experience equal amounts of despair and resignation when this scene plays out, as it does many times in a city such as Toronto.

Rules of the Road – or lack thereof

It is good to be back.

As mentioned in my previous post, I have been motivated to take keyboard in hand once again thanks to a random incident a couple of weeks ago.  Let me set the stage.

So, November 3 was a cool and blustery Tuesday.  I had the day off work and decided to go for a bike ride.  I headed south-east from Yonge and Eglinton to Pape and Danforth, just for kicks.  For anyone who hasn’t ridden in Toronto, any time you are heading south it is all downhill.  Conversly, the way home can be a major pain.

So, on the way back home I’m headed uphill with a nasty headwind to boot.  As I’m chugging along a gentleman in a silver PT Cruiser slows down next to me, lowers his window and shouts, “Hey buddy, there’s no bike lane here!”

Ben Co. is dead. Long live Ben Co.

That’s right, folks. After an extremely extended break I have finally found my muse. All thanks to a jerk in a PT Cruiser (more on that in a while).

In any case, for anyone still out there, Ben Co. will be going through a metamorphoses. We’ll be cocooning for a little bit while we update the site and develop some new material, but will emerge as a glorious, focused, slightly (very slightly) more mature site: Third Rail Repository.

So, dust off that RSS feed and get ready for some new tasty bits from your favourite contributors.

Where is Ben Co.?

It’s painfully obvious I haven’t posted in a long time.  This was by choice.  I found I was lacking the mojo and producing forced posts about stupid stuff (see, well, the last few).  I haven’t given up the ghost, but I’m still evaluating the merits of continuing the site.

In any case, my real reason for posting was to let you know that sometime Ben Co. contributer Humberto has undertaken his long-awaited cross-country roadtrip.  I urge you to follow his progress at Modern Odyssey, while I stay in wet, cold Toronto.  Crying.

Ben Co. is putting on its Speedo

Yes-sir, it’s time for Ben Co. to take a thoroughly undeserved holiday.  Time to recharge the ‘ol sarcasm engines, refill the tomfoolery tanks and re-oil the joints o’ jubilation.  If we are feeling feisty we might even undertake a redesign.

Enjoy your August and look for new content come mid-September.