18.10.2010 /// Le taxi prend ses aires!: the public and the taxi industry have spoken
This competition, launched last spring among designers in every discipline, was designed to get people thinking about how to improve existing taxi stands in Montréal, keeping both taxi drivers and customers in mind. Members of the public and taxi drivers were asked to speak out by voting for their favourite concept among the five winning proposals selected by the jury.
Grand Prix du jury: Moai Statues
The jury noted the great refinement and simplicity in the Moai Statues proposal by Louis Gagnon-Séguin and Bhavesh Mistry, with its various elements that allow for harmonious integration with the city, regardless of a taxi stand’s scale, while bringing out the new taxis signature and logo. The sculptural character and subtlety in the surface play of the monolithic pillars are perfectly in accordance with the formal language of the benches and other elements. The concept’s universality, the fixture’s fine details and the parentheses demarcating the zones at ground level are among the aspects that pleased the jury. “The intelligent and skilful use of light helps maximize visibility and confers an agreeable presence on the benches, which seem to come alive on the spot,” stated jury Chair Patrick Messier, an industrial designer with Messier Designers Inc.
Grand Prix du public + Coup de coeur de l’industrie: Folium
Members of the public and taxi drivers were asked to express themselves by voting for their favourite concept among the five winning proposals, and they had the chance to win a number of participation prizes. Nearly 3,000 votes were submitted from July 5 to August 30.
Both the public and the taxi industry were attracted by the Folium proposal developed by industrial designers Geneviève Trudel, Thomas-Éric Béliveau and Philipp Schaake. Their concept integrates various functions in relatively simple fixtures: an iconic beacon column, roof, folding seat, display panel, lighting, markers, interfaces, etc. The jury members found their integration of the call buttons for various needs to be astute. They also noted the concept’s intelligence and its strong signal as a distinctive urban fixture easily identifiable by taxi users, whether local residents or people visiting the city.
The public vote is organized in partnership with 98,5FM, Métro newspaper and the Place d’Armes Hôtel & Suites.
All the competing entries, including the winning concepts, are viewable online.
COMMENTS
21 août 2010 BY Charles Corso
While it would seem, at first glance, a nice thing to provide a shelter for rain, or blowing snow, in the end, such facilities only provide more space for graffiti and vandalism, thus marring the efforts at good design.
Having a call button, and a built-in microphone and speaker would seem to be useful, as was suggested in some proposals.
I like very much the idea of powering the BIXI stands with solar energy. But, in this case, if there are charging stations present for the cabs, I presume they would require underground electrical lines, making any solar panel moot.
If I had to wait at a taxi stand for any length of time at night, I would feel safer having plenty of light.