This sidewalk extension commission is part of the City of Toronto’s initiative to improve the pedestrian realm on its narrow streets, by finding new social space in the curb lane. Charged with a modular sidewalk extension commission with limited seating, we developed a tongue-in-cheek call to both hang out, and walk: DON’T JUST TALK THE TALK huddles seating at one end in the talk centre, and, WALK THE WALK tells it like it is – encouraging you to walk the walk. Made with wood and a trapezoidal interlocking substructure of steel allows for easy movement and re-deployment in different areas of the city. The modular extension can be repeated to extend the walk, and extend the phrase to WALK THE WALK THE WALK THE…

Two sidewalks were fabricated and installed on King Street in Spring 2020. This was timely as it provides much needed additional sidewalk width during the COVID-19 epidemic.