WALKABILITY: "Mean Streets"...or motivating?

WALKABILITY: Mean Streets…or Motivating?

Some urban streets are impossible to walk…

…others are just plain boring.

Yet others offer visual treats on the street…

…that increase our motivation to walk, such as:

“Nepenthes”

Dan Corson

Portland, Oregon 1 Solar-powered landmarks

Mural by Uber5000

Kensington Market

Toronto, Ontario Crazy-happy laneway murals 2

“Woodpecker Column”

Fastwurms

Toronto Convention Centre Supersized wildlife 3

``The Birds`` (18’ sparrow)

Myfanwy MacLeod

Vancouver, British Columbia

“PAUSE”

Exploratorium with Gehl Architects

Market Street, San Francisco, CA 4 Experiments in interactivity

Portland, Oregon and

Detroit, Michigan 5 Small business personalities

artist: Moses Kofi

Kensington Market

Toronto, Ontario Assembly-line escapees 6

Busker wildlife 7

none

BUSKER

BAROMETER

ordinary

unique characters

The Violin Monster

Zachary Storey

Ann Arbor, Michigan

8 Heidelberg Project

Tyree Guyton & Friends

Detroit, Michigan Signature streets

Links to the past Plaza walkway on former industrial lands

Olympic Village Site

Vancouver, British Columbia 9

Temporary installations “Balloon Forest”

100in1day

Toronto, Ontario 10

Aspirational statements “Keep Portland Weird”

Dante’s

Portland, Oregon 11

Exuberant walkways MBAD’s Bead Museum

Olayami Dabls

Detroit, Michigan 12

Supersized plant life “Sonic Bloom”

Dan Corson

Seattle, Washington 13

“The Silicon Forest”

Brian Borello

Portland, Oregon

Socio-economic reflection 14 Heidelberg Project

Tyree Guyton

Detroit , Michigan

Art from memories and detritus 15 Heidelberg Project

Tyree Guyton

Detroit , Michigan

Milonga Al Fresco Michigan Argentine Tango Club

Regent’s Plaza

Ann Arbor, Michigan 16

Below grade parking

Pearl District

Portland, Oregon Ventilation with vitality 17

18 Irresistible interactive sculpture “Endover”

Tony Rosenthal

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Astute architectural color 19 Dan Tel Aviv Hotel

Yaacov Agam

Tel Aviv, Israel

“Urban Hydrology” (carved granite)

Fernanda D'Agostino

6th Street Transit Mall, Portland, Oregon Diatoms on the swales 20

Sea Life Skate Stops

Rincon Park, Embarcadero

San Francisco, California Functional artistry 21

Designed by students of

B. F. Day School

Fremont, Seattle, Washington Pavement patterns 22

"Uniform Measure/Stack“

Stephen Cruise

Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario District artifacts 23

Bus Stop Seating

Woodward Avenue, DDOT

Detroit, Michigan Gestures of civic kindness 24

Croft Lane

Toronto, Ontario Garage door commentary 25

Faces in the ‘hood 26 Heidelberg Project

Tyree Guyton

Detroit , Michigan

“Man in the City” Project

John Sauve

Detroit, Michigan Reasons to look up 27

Mirvish Village

Markham Street

Toronto, Ontario One of a kind streets 28

Detroit, Michigan and

Toronto, Ontario Presence of youth 29

“Inside/Out” temporary display

from Detroit Institute of Arts on

Liberty St., Ann Arbor, Michigan Boundary-free art museum 30

Is your walk mean…or motivating?

Nature is essential, but cities need art and artistry.

Could your street use a few visual treats?

Sharon VanderKaay, Farrow Partnership Architects @farrowpartners