Artifacts
In the winter of 2020, I visited Allied Properties’ Toronto headquarters. I asked the receptionist if I might speak with a company representative about Allied’s Make Room for the Arts Program, since the press release gave so little information about the substance of the program. While waiting, I leafed through the displayed coffee-table publications about artists, urbanists, architects and “creative visionaries”.
At a moment when the receptionist was distracted, I stole the dust cover of the topmost of the coffee-table books. The Death and Life of Great American Cities is written by urbanist Jane Jacobs, who was one of the first geographers to advocate for the importance of arts and culture to the health and vitality of urban environments.
The book covers shown here replicate the stack of books in the reception area of Allied’s headquarters. The top book cover once sat in Allied’s Toronto offices.