URBAN TYPE INTERVENTION in Context
Due to the urbanization process in the last 150 years, the street network has been extensively expanded, and has simultaneously excluded children in the planning and design process. The importance put on motorized movement in the streets results in the exclusion of child pedestrians from them, therefore exposing them to more harm. “For many years, the focus of public officials, designers, property owners, and others in many Global North communities has been to eliminate or control the use of public spaces by youth.” This is an important issue because the street is an indispensable tool for accessing resources such as schools, parks, sports fields, natural spaces, and more, which are typically open to everyone of all ages. Because of the large volume of people accessing these places everyday, the number of drivers and pedestrians in and around these areas is great as well.
about the intersection
The chosen location, Avenue Victoria is a local street in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. Its traffic flow is under 1000 vehicles per day, and the speed limit has been adjusted to 30 km/h as opposed to 50 km/h from a few years ago because speed is a leading cause of road accidents in Québec. Victoria links local pedestrians to many resources nearby such as grocery stores, the metro, schools, parks, restaurants, and more.
THE IDEAS BEHIND THE MESSAGE
Inspired by Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the mural focuses on the innocence of childhood to convey a message that targets passing drivers. Choosing a typeface with good legibility, BigSmalls in this case, contributes to the mural’s functionality as a crosswalk, in addition to its strong meaning. BigSmalls has also been chosen because it has a balanced personality of playfulness and seriousness. Some characters have been modified to create an expression that can be associated with pain or death, therefore amplifying the message. White is chosen as the general color of the mural as it is commonly used for crosswalks. The type of red used for the expression makes a strong contrast with the white lines and can be associated with danger and blood. Lastly, in terms of production, it would be beneficial to create the mural with the materials used for actual retroreflective pavement markings, which use small glass beads to reflect light. This will improve the visibility of the mural-crosswalk and can ultimately improve road safety here.
