Last week,
Paul Raff Studio completed their design of the new lifeguard stands, to be installed on Toronto's swimming beaches over the course of the next year.
After wining the competition last year, the multi-disciplinary Spadina Avenue firm, which includes architects, artists and graphic designers, began work on what ended up being a very complicated project.
"We worked with Parks and Recreation and Urban Planning," says Raff, referring to the to chief city departments involved in the project, "and the police are the ones who deal with staffing the stands � they all have requirements, including some highly detailed signage requirements."
In the end, Raff says, they came up with a design he describes as "not flashy, Frank Gehry-style design," but one that integrated those signage requirements into the design, "just like the 1950s subways stations of Toronto, where the font on the walls is an integral part of the design of the buildings."
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Paul Raff
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