BCL Report – Sept 29, 2008

We spent a couple hours on Monday exploring some specific sites around the city to start planning some upcoming projects. Getting out and documenting and talking about these places really helped to solidify how important it is for some creative intervention/interaction with the city and how excited we are to do it.

The clear view from University Avenue, near Bridge, of the awful Ceasar’s sign. We find it unacceptable that this glowing red sign can be seen clearly from the University campus, not to mention that the building on which it sits (the new Ceasar’s expansion) dominates our skyline. We want to disappear that sign.

We’re trying to imagine how best to block the view of the sign, at least in a very limited and specific location. Potentially mounting a very small blinder of sorts to a telephone pole could block the view of the sign at street level. We’re planning to target bus stops, as this would offer the greatest chance of someone being able to engage the blinder.

Another location, further east down University Avenue, in front of one of the many closed-down Bingo parlours. Again, another bus stop at which we can attempt to block the sign.

Skateboard ramp (is this considered a quarter-pipe?) at the park on University, across from Rankin.

This is the view from atop of the skateboard ramp—another good place to visually remove the Ceasar’s sign from Windsor’s skyline.

The development that now blocks the view of the Detroit River near McDougall and University. We see a really big white wall onto which we could project something, maybe it should be a shot of the river.

Charles Clark Square—in the winter there’s an ice-rink … We tried to imagine a way to intervene with these chess pieces or to make the space more useful to general activity year-round.

These metal umbrellas offer the potential to send messages via Google Earth.

These holes in the umbrellas could be ideal for LEDs, again to broadcast message skyward…

The tops of the umbrellas could also be observed from this giant mirror ball.

City Hall—giant wall and huge walkway just asking for a game or projection to happen (or both?)  -citywide Tetris championships??

Welcome to Windsor sign on Dougall near the 401.

Taking measurements of the sign.

We have a couple ideas in mind for this…

There are a some things that might be useful to be noted on this sign.

Very successful field trip, hoping to do another one soon as we continue to look for project sites around the city. It was great to get out there and participate in interacting with the city—looking at it, measuring it, rethinking it.