Treegators

Location: all over

Date photo taken: 9 July 2019

As I've mentioned in a previous post, the City of Toronto is working to expand the number of trees in our city. As part of this, they regularly plant new trees. Like all youngsters, new trees can be quite fragile and conditions during their first few years can have a big impact on how well they settle in and grow. In particular, adequate water is needed to help their roots establish themselves. That's where these neat green bags come in. Called Treegators, they allow for a long, slow release of water to the roots of the tree. This saves both time and water. The double-walled bag is filled in minutes allowing city staff to move on to other tasks, and the slow release over many hours, through small holes in the bottom of the bags, reduces water loss due to run-off and evaporation. The City zips them around all newly planted street trees.

Otter and Turtle

Location: alley south of 189 Booth

Date photo taken: 8 May, 2021

This otter and turtle form part of a long mural that covers the low wall around the south and west sides of the new building at 189B Booth Avenue in Riverdale. It was painted this spring by Philip Cote. He was commissioned by the Red Door Family Shelter to create something that would "educate, inspire and imbue healing energy to our clients, staff, volunteers, and supporters for years to come”. According to Carol Latchford, Executive Director of Red Door, they also plan to create “programming opportunities for children, and adults too, to learn and understand the stories associated with Philip’s mural.” The Red Door Shelter provides sanctuary to women, children and families in need, with 64% of their residents being children. In this new space, they will be able to provide each family with their own bedroom and washroom, a first for the organization. 

The Faces of 77 Elm

Location: 77 Elm Street

Date photo taken: 27 March 2021

It's funny. I've always liked the building at 77 Elm Street. Built in the early 1980s, it's rather stark and monolithic, but there is a playfulness there too. Take the detail above. Panels like this are arrayed along the ground floor, facing the street. To me they remind me of the moai of Easter Island, patiently standing, watching the city as it passes. I was surprised then to learn that the building is sometimes referred to as the Nightmare on Elm Street. One critic I read gave it a grade of D- and used phrases such as "arbitrary and inappropriate" and "the architectural equivalent of a black hole". 

Known as the Alan Brown Building, it provides rental housing specifically     for physicans, nurses and other professionals working at SickKids.

Bell Maintenance Hole Cover

 

Location: everywhere
Date photo taken: 25 November 2020

The streets and lots of Toronto are dotted with circular metal discs. While most of us walk and drive over them daily, rarely do we stop to take notice. That's a shame really as some of them are quite pretty. While Toronto, for the most part, may lack the stand-out designs found in some other cities, our covers still have a certain charm. I'm particularly partial to the Bell Canada ones, with their pattern of hexagons. The central logo also appeals to the history nut in me. Thanks to it and a cool timeline on the BCE website, I know that this particular cover was installed sometime between 1965 and 1976.

NeaTO: While most of the city's covers are standard issue, Toronto does have a few unique designs underfoot. The very first NeaTO post back in October 2012 featured one of them - the sewer access covers in Regent Park.

TinEye

 

Location: 233 Queen St. W., just west of Sherbourne
Date photo taken: 8 April 2021

I love this mural. It's colourful and fun and it makes me smile. It's also a corporate logo. TinEye, the company that occupies this building, is an image search and recognition company. Their robotic mascot was added to the front of the building last fall. If you're interested in design, or just want to know more about this friendly looking fellow, the TinEye blog has an article on what went into creating the logo.

Walking the dog

Location: Church and McGill Streets

Date photo taken: 10 April 2021

This is part of a decorative screen running down the length of the driveway behind a new condo development at 365 Church Street. It obscures the wall behind it, letting just the right amount of its rough charm shine through, and the figures add a touch of life to what might otherwise be a lonely lane. It was designed by NAK Design Group and built and installed by Eventscape in 2017.

Glowing Heart

 

Date photo taken: 7 April 2021

Location: all over

I've been feeling a lot of love on my nightly walks lately. These small but mighty heart lights have been popping up in windows all over my neighbourhood. They seemed to come out of nowhere. The first night I noticed them I counted 4 within 10 minutes. Now there are even more. I was very pleased to discover that their proliferation was not the result of a two-for-one sale on Amazon. The hearts are the work of Moss LED, a company based in Mississauga. They primarily create LED products for film and television, but during the pandemic they started making these Hero Hearts to show support and spread the love. According to their website, they now have 5 full time people creating these lovely lights. If you're the kind of person who likes to see behind the scenes, check out the Made in Canada post on the company's website for a walk-through of how the hearts are made.