Fotenn at ShapeLab TO

March 15, 2018

Gavin Bailey and Matt Reid of Fotenn’s Toronto office are excited and honoured to participate as industry advisors with the ShapeLab initiative. The ShapeLab is a four month, hands-on learning initiative created by Ryerson University’s Office of Social Innovation in partnership with the City of Toronto’s Planning Division Through an iterative design and co-creation process, student teams will explore public realm enhancements and an interactive streetscape as part of the 2018 theme: The King Street Transit Pilot.

The King Street Transit Pilot began in November 2017 with the primary goal of moving people more efficiently by improving transit reliability, speed, and capacity along Toronto’s busiest surface transit route. Since implementation, the Pilot has become one of the most exciting and controversial initiatives that the City of Toronto has ever undertaken. The Pilot is changing how King Street works by not allowing private cars to travel through intersections, giving priority to street cars and adding new public spaces to curb lanes. Complementing this unique initiative, this year’s ShapeLab challenge will act as an extension of the “Everyone is King” competition, giving students the opportunity to fabricate public realm interventions, adding vibrancy and interactivity to King Street.

Gavin and Matt will be joined by other industry advisors from DIALOG, as well as representatives from the City of Toronto’s Planning division and several Ryerson University departments. Interdisciplinary student teams will compete in the Design Challenge on March 17 and 18, 2018, with four groups being chosen to advance through the remainder of program. The four shortlisted teams will be awarded $1,000 in prize money, paired with mentors, and will receive up to $4,000 in prototype funding to deliver their vision and install it on King Street.

Find out more about the ShapeLab and the King Street Transit Pilot here.