Making a difference

Firm uses strategic design to enhance experiences

Heather Buchan/For Metro Toronto

Wendy Gold, co-founder of OpenCity Projects, is flanked by her business partner Job Rutgers, right, and her brother, Jordy Gold, the firm’s sustainability strategist.

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HALIFAX Cyclists of all ages and skill levels, and other self-propelled people on wheels, rode to the Halifax Commons yesterday to celebrate sustainable and active transportation. The open street party was part of HRM Bike Week, which kicked off last Friday and runs through Sunday.

OTTAWA Over the weekend, Bicycles for Humanity — a volunteer-run grassroots organization — collected more than 400 bicycles in a drive that will help improve access to health care, education, food, and employment for people in need.

EDMONTON “Knowing the farmers that grow my food can make a living is critically important. More of the money we’re spending on food can stay in our community,” said Jessie Radies of the Good Food Box Project, one of two recent initiatives to make eating local easier.

CALGARY The Lilac festival drew record crowds yesterday, expected to surpass 100,000 people. 4th St. BRZ director Jennifer Rempel said, “We had two private businesses give us free parking for our visitors … and every year the support keeps growing,” said Rempel.

VANCOUVER In Vancouver, Oscar-winner Goldie Hawn joined several local community leaders at a gala held by the Face the World Foundation this weekend that raised about $800,000 for various charities in the city. It’s a winning fundraising formula: Throw a big party to raise big money. For her part, Hawn said she will “support anything for children.”

HEATHER BUCHAN

METRO TORONTO

June 01, 2009 5:40 a.m.

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While there are numerous initiatives in Toronto aimed at improving our quality of life, one local firm is doing so in a unique way.

Called OpenCity Projects, the three-year-old consultancy firm uses strategic design to make public spaces and the communication between Toronto communities more meaningful experiences for everyone.

“How we define and interact with our neighbours alters the very way we experience our city,” said Wendy Gold, who, with Job Rutgers, founded Open-City.

Last year, they partnered with the City of Toronto to create a “creative lab,” enlisting industrial design students at the Ontario College of Art and Design to identify opportunities to enhance neighbourhood experiences around the city.

“We had students go to neighbourhoods and, through our research process, identify a problem that we could frame as a creative opportunity,” said Gold. “One student went to Corktown and found that there were some safety issues.”

To create a more welcoming atmosphere, the student proposed a mural installation and public garden that would celebrate the area’s history.

“Other students went to Parkdale and found that there was a real social/economic divide between Parkdale and Queen West,” said Gold. One proposed creating appliqué images of the future development of the neighbourhood to put in TTC shelters throughout the area so viewers could see the progression of the area over time.

From 80 submitted concepts, 22 were chosen for the Toronto Unbound exhibit last June as part of Luminato. Of those, the top six were chosen by the City of Toronto to be implemented across the city.

Due to the success of last year’s initiative, this year OpenCity Projects has teamed with Luminato, Toronto’s Festival of Arts and Creativity (June 5-14), to present a similar exhibit called Icebreakers — Creating Common Ground by Design.

Launching at the Luminato Box, it “explores design and creativity’s crucial roles in breaking down common barriers in the urban environment,” said Gold. “We’re engaged to create really unique public spaces that reflects our diverse cultural community.”

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