Park yourself in PLANT’s spots on King Street

A few months ago, the City of Toronto’s King Street Transit Pilot project got down to the serious business of investigating whether one of T.O.’s most congested traffic arteries can function better with amped-up streetcar service and fewer cars. Now the fun part of the mega-experiment is beginning, and we’re happy to be part of it – twice over. Earlier this year the City held the Everyone is King design competition for two “durable destination” parklets and a larger number of shorter-term, temporary public space installations, all for curb lane locations a mere six feet wide. PLANT’s team was the only one to score a win in both categories. Our friends at Oriole Landscaping have just installed Face to Face/Tête-à-Tête, our durable destination parklet, on King Street just east of Yonge, opposite the King Edward Hotel. Flanked by continuous benches and wrapped with planting, two long tables zigzag through the parklet, providing space for concentrated community conversation or solitary musing. In leaping orange letters on a navy ground, the piece’s title projects over all its surfaces. Watch for Asphalt Poetry, by PLANT and poet Ronna Bloom: our temporary installation will be in place in early May on the south side of King west of Brant Street.
