What can come out of west Toronto in design...Burton Kramer

 



Granted this author can get very excited about a new art book that even has a sprinkle of content regarding situationist art theory, and quite  jumpy at a design book  usually going thought 5 new ones a day.

So when this book showed up  on a post on grain edit, knowing this firms west Toronto location and great history happy times were here.

You seen the work regularly the... CBC logo 

Burton Kramer Identities is an important and comprehensive book on the work of a leading Canadian designer, educator and painter, who practiced for over 50 years.

Kramer began his design career in the New York office of Will Burtin and went on to work at Geigy under Gottfried Honegger. In 1961, he moved to Zurich, Switzerland, as Chief Designer at the E. Halpern Agency, where he created award-winning work. In 1965, Kramer moved to Toronto to work on graphics and signage for Expo 67. In 1967, he founded Kramer Design Associates, creating identity programs for the Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Educational Television and in 1974, his well-known logo and identity program for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

His logos and corporate identity work have been published in numerous books and journals worldwide. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from ArtsToronto; in 2002, the Province of Ontario awarded him the Order of Ontario for his cultural contributions; and in 2003, the Ontario College of Art & Design granted him an honorary doctorate, D.Des.

Since about 2001, Kramer’s focus has shifted from design to painting. His abstract, geometry-based, lyrical, colorist paintings have been shown regularly in galleries in Europe, Mexico, Colombia, the USA and Canada.

 

a current design of their street furniture...



 

Current office of the firm is at Kramer Design Associates (KDA)
103 Dupont Street

web

 

An interview with ROB PRICHARD, METROLINX PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE

The Globe and Mail online has a interview with ROB PRICHARD online here

Two local relevant section outtakes from the article

On meeting the Tier 4 emissions standards on its Georgetown corridor trains

GO Transit has ... an enviable record of adopting the best available diesel technology and the cleanest available diesel fuel in every stage in its evolution as an organization. We are known to the manufacturers as eager to see technological advances and open to embracing the best technology as it becomes available. So there's no change for GO. We think it is a price worth paying, whatever the price is. It is not our expectation that it will dramatically increase the price of the locomotives. The locomotives we are acquiring now, while Tier 2 certified, are in fact compliant with the Tier 3 standards already and we just are very much in favour of these further technological improvements to reduce the pollutants from the emissions from the vehicles and we're happy to pay the market price of that technology as it becomes available over the next few years. We do not believe it will double it, but we are happy to pay the increased costs to have a cleaner environment and less emissions.

On the electrification of the line

Our current estimate of the cost of electrifying the Georgetown line only is $1.5-billion. We estimate the cost of electrifying the GO system, including Lakeshore East and Lakeshore West and the other lines, to be somewhere between $7 and $10-billion. So those are our current estimates. We have announced a thorough study of the benefits, all the benefits, and costs of electrification of the GO system and its individual lines. We began that study in June with a community advisory council of scientists, environmentalists, community representative, engineers and others to advise us on how to properly scope a thorough study. That work is coming to a conclusion over the next two weeks. We expect to get the approval of our board of directors to then proceed with the full study pursuant to that scope of work and complete it by December of next year. as a result of that, we'll have a very clear case made of the health benefit, the environmental benefit, the transit benefits, the community benefits of electrification, and we'll have a clear view of the financial costs of electrification and of the engineering costs. That is, to electrify the corridor will require transmission lines. Do we bring the power to the corridor through some communities? Then we need to be frank and open about that. It requires putting wires above all the tracks which are going through communities, and we need to be frank about that. So we need all the costs and all the benefits on the table so that an informed decision can be made. We'll make all that work public and then, following public debate, the province can make a decision as to whether or not to make that investment, and if so, at what pace. Because you can't electrify the entire system at once, because we would have to do it in some sequence, and we want to make sure we do the most urgent lines first and then do it in the right sequence as well. So we think given the magnitude of the public investment required to electrify, we think it's prudent to spend a year doing a very thorough study of the issues before making a commitment to it. In the meantime, we're confident that using the Tier 4 diesel technology, we can expand services on the Georgetown line and do so in a way that's consistent with improving air quality.

West Toronto Collegiate Institute to be closed and the land sold?

from the saveourschoolsTO@gmail.com flyer

SAVE OUR SCHOOLS!

Is West Toronto C.I. CLOSING?

What will this mean to our community?

neighbourhood school and community meeting   place- GONE! pool, excellent track and gym facilities- GONE! building fully accessible to the disabled- GONE! 8.5 acre urban green space- GONE! important public resource paid for by the Toronto taxpayers- GONE!

Once gone, the land and building will never come back!

Two Public Meetings:

330 Lansdowne Ave

one block north of College St.

Tues., Sept. 29^th and  Thurs., Oct. 15^th

7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

West Toronto Collegiate Institute                                                                cafeteria

.

Some of the many reasons why this school building is special can be found in the history section og the schools' Wikipedia page

The school was constructed and opened in 1972. The school was built on the former southern section of MacGregor Park. The football field is the former location of a lumber yard. The construction of the school necessitated the closing of the section alongside the school of St. Helen's Avenue. The siding of the building on the east and west sides of the building is unique. It was installed as "raw" steel and allowed to rust to reach the intended brown colour, then preserved. The school was originally named in 1972, by its students as West Toronto Secondary School.

Litigation or potential litigation by the city Re:Metrolinx Rail-to-Rail Diamond Grade Separation Project

From the city staff report

This report is about litigation or potential litigation that affects the City

and contains advice or communications that are subject to solicitor-client

privilege.

This report is about litigation or potential litigation that affects the City and contains advice or communications that are subject to solicitor-client privilege. (which the city redacted)

This report has been prepared for submission directly to City Council as requested by Council at its meeting of May 25, 26 and 27, 2009 to provide Council with information respecting the status of the formal noise/vibration complaint made by the West Toronto Diamond Residents Group to the Canadian Transportation Agency (“CTA”) and recommendations as to the City’s possible involvement in the process to support the local residents’ concerns.

Legal Services staff has been advised by CTA representatives that this is the first time that a complaint respecting an “urban transit authority” such as Metrolinx (formerly GO Transit) has been considered under the Canada Transportation Act process.

The City Solicitor recommends that City Council:

1. Authorize the City Solicitor to prepare submissions for the City of Toronto in the proceeding before the Canadian Transportation Agency (“CTA”) to consider the complaint (included as Attachment 2 to this report) made by the West Toronto

Diamond Community Group with respect to the noise and vibration caused by the rail-to-rail West Toronto Diamond grade separation project currently being undertaken by Metrolinx (formerly GO Transit).

2. Direct that the City Solicitor and other City staff, as directed by the City Manager, consult with the local residents in the preparation of submissions to the CTA.

3. Consider and receive Confidential Attachment 1 for information, and that the contents of Confidential Attachment 1 not be made public to avoid prejudicing the City and the residents’ case before the Canadian Transportation Agency.

full staff report link

West Toronto Railpath Opening Parade Saturday, June 20, 2009

[caption id="attachment_4445" align="aligncenter" width="343" caption="Click image to download 8.5 x 11 page version"][/caption]

			A ribbon-cutting and community bike parade to celebrate the opening of the West Toronto Railpath. Come and discover the new path. For info or to get involved email railpathopening@gmail.com Presented by: Friends of the West Toronto Railpath Date: Saturday, June 20, 2009 Start time: 02:00 PM End time: 03:30 PM Rain date:
			Location:
			Wallace Avenue east of Symington at the entrance to the West Toronto Railpath. Under the pedestrian bridge.
				Web site: www.railpath.ca