BusinessWeek posts an article today discussing the Designing the Taxi project (and book) organized by Design Trust For Public Space, a NYC-based non-profit. I recall hearing about this some time ago – probably on one of the design sites I frequent. I also dimly recall the situation, but fortunately it’s all archived on their website so we can just go there. Here’s an excerpt from their archive on this project:
As the hundredth anniversary of the New York City taxi approaches in 2007, the Design Trust for Public Space, in cooperation with Parsons School of Design, is investigating how to improve this iconic mode of transportation. To jump-start the process, we invited the taxi industry, New York City’s taxi regulators, and some of the nation’s finest designers to begin rethinking the taxi system and the vehicle itself.
To generate innovative – but feasible – ideas, the Design Trust program took the form of two half-day workshops, held at Parsons School of Design, where participants could share expertise and experience. Participants included fleet owners, drivers, landscape architects, urban planners, vehicle and industrial designers, graphic artists, medallion holders, representatives of City agencies, including the Taxi and Limousine Commission, and others. In total, over 50 designers and taxi stakeholders took part in a spirited discussion of all things taxi
What’s new news as far as I can tell is that BW also has a slideshow to go with their article so we can see what solutions people – and designers – finally came up with.
Well, all I’m going to say is that I think some solutions are nice, but also that there are some proposals that for me go beyond disappointing – especially considering the firms associated with them. I can only guess that the money (assuming there even was any) didn’t sufficiently motivate some people to put in the kind of effort in which the design community as a whole could take pride. It also reminds me of a thought I had when I first heard of this project: closed source (i.e. closed network; the kind of buddy-buddy network that designers discuss when some firms get design awards that most everyone questions). Whenever I hear about these “closed source” public design efforts, I wonder how much of it is serious design and how much is promotion. I’m still wondering.