Joel Katz Design Associates in Rome, 1 October 2008-6 January 2009
For the second consecutive year, JKDA will expand to a Rome office, located in the Trastevere area. Joel Katz will run this office, and Mary Torrieri will maintain the Philadelphia office. The Rome office can be accessed through a Philadelphia telephone number and, of course, by e-mail. While in Rome, Katz will lecture on photography at Temple University Rome Campus and at Cornell in Rome. He will also lecture on information design at the International University of Art Venice (IUAV) in late October. IUAV is the only university in Italy dedicated to a specific area of knowledge: teaching design and planning for all disciplines concerned with man's habitat and environment.

"Roma Amor" exhibit of Joel Katz's photography
Joel Katz will be showing photography at the Gershman Y's Open Lens Gallery, opening on Thursday 11 December. All the images are of Italy. A highlight of the show is seven collages done in collaboration with poet Randall Couch. Couch has written poems in specific, often arcane, forms, inspired by Katz's images. The poems and images are then collaged, with parts of both word and image printed on old manuscripts, first day of issue envelopes, and other types of found paper. The balance of the show consists of a dozen photographic pairs made between 2003 and 2008 and four photographic collages from 2003. Katz will return from Rome for the opening.

Ride!Philadelphia portals demonstration sites in production
CCD's transit portals project, beginning with six demonstration sites scheduled for completion in mid-October (date of press conference to be announced), expects to make finding rapid and regional rail access easier for residents and visitors alike. Our solution includes consistency of nomenclature, color, and iconography, and includes these elements:

1) A 4"-diameter pole topped by a 24" circular "T" icon, illuminated when trains are in service and not illuminated when they are not. Attached to the pole are 6" x 42" blades, which describe the lines and modes accessible from the station, including concourse access.

2) A soffit sign that names the lines and modes, including those accessible from the concourse, with modal pictographs.

3) An exit stair sign, located at the foot of each stairway to the street, naming the nearby major destinations and describing the Walk!Philadelphia pedestrian wayfinding system throughout Center City and University City.

4) A heads-up concourse map, matching lines and modes on consistency of nomenclature and color. Explanatory text will appear in six languages.

Poles and hardware will be painted CCD green, as will metal railings currently painted (for example, the 19th & Market Sts trolley station).

Bresslergroup is the designer of the poles, illuminated "T" housing, and hardware. Urban Sign and Crane is the selected contractor.

Plans are moving forward to survey and apply this program to the additional 80-90 transit access portals in Center City.

JKDA proposes new rail system map
While working on the Ride!Philadelphia transit portals project, JKDA designed a system rail map intended to match the new concourse map. It includes several innovations to make it easier to understand and use: a circle-segment (rather than a 45-90 degree) vocabulary that underscores the radial nature of the regional rail network; the thickness of the Regional Rail Lines line is proportional to the number of routes sharing the trackage, making it easier to see where routes separate from each other; the geographic accuracy of the former Reading Lines is made diagrammatic and placed east of the Broad Street line to eliminate confusion caused by showing their actual crossings of Broad Street.

It is our hope that this map will be adopted for use at the concourse or platform level of all stations in the near future. See www.joelkatzdesign.com/maps.html, page 6 for a larger image and a description.