http://blog.fawny.org/2007/03/24/jack-frank/ blog.fawny.org Thu, 26 May 2011 13:52:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4-alpha-19896 http://blog.fawny.org/2007/03/24/jack-frank/comment-page-1/#comment-922 What’s in the street-furniture contract? ¶ Personal Weblog of Joe Clark, Toronto Wed, 25 Apr 2007 19:07:51 +0000 http://blog.fawny.org/2007/03/24/jack-frank/#comment-922 [...] This one’s important (emphasis added): The vendor has to pay the city a hundred grand “to fund a design study to be undertaken by the City for the purpose of recommending complementary design solutions for bollards, pedestrian railings, tree grates, maintenance covers, sidewalk subway entrance portals [q.v.] and other street amenities… for the purpose of complementing and enhancing the Street Furniture designs” (¶4[o]). Yes, that means this is not the end of the domination of Jerry “Wayfinding of the Apocalypse” Kramer, the presumptive author of any such study to “standardize” everything else in the city that is untouched by the current street-furniture proposal. [...] [...] This one’s important (emphasis added): The vendor has to pay the city a hundred grand “to fund a design study to be undertaken by the City for the purpose of recommending complementary design solutions for bollards, pedestrian railings, tree grates, maintenance covers, sidewalk subway entrance portals [q.v.] and other street amenities… for the purpose of complementing and enhancing the Street Furniture designs” (¶4[o]). Yes, that means this is not the end of the domination of Jerry “Wayfinding of the Apocalypse” Kramer, the presumptive author of any such study to “standardize” everything else in the city that is untouched by the current street-furniture proposal. [...]

]]> http://blog.fawny.org/2007/03/24/jack-frank/comment-page-1/#comment-726 Don’t trust a museum with a loaded blog – Personal Weblog of Joe Clark, Toronto Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:33:53 +0000 http://blog.fawny.org/2007/03/24/jack-frank/#comment-726 [...] Recently, I dissected the TTC’s plans to pay A-list architects, like Frank Gehry, a full five grand to slap together some back-of-napkin drawings for new subway entrances. I decided to be extra-thorough in fact-checking that story. I asked the Art Gallery of Ontario, which hired Gehry to destroy a previous renovation and install a new one, if they had a media contact for Gehry’s firm. Here was the response: “Gehry [A]rchitects has requested we not disclose their contact.” (Not much of a “contact,” then, is it?) “[H]owever, we would be happy to forward any request for info etc. on to them through our office.” Sorry, no, I don’t need an intermediary, and this isn’t about the AGO. [...] [...] Recently, I dissected the TTC’s plans to pay A-list architects, like Frank Gehry, a full five grand to slap together some back-of-napkin drawings for new subway entrances. I decided to be extra-thorough in fact-checking that story. I asked the Art Gallery of Ontario, which hired Gehry to destroy a previous renovation and install a new one, if they had a media contact for Gehry’s firm. Here was the response: “Gehry [A]rchitects has requested we not disclose their contact.” (Not much of a “contact,” then, is it?) “[H]owever, we would be happy to forward any request for info etc. on to them through our office.” Sorry, no, I don’t need an intermediary, and this isn’t about the AGO. [...]

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