Dreamy: resilient coffee culture

It is a nice feeling to have your own weekend-only secret spot. I have found mine ever since I first visited Dreamy in early March. Dreamy is often referred to as a coffee supermarket but I prefer calling it a coffee market. The term supermarket, to me, sounds a tad cold and lacking in human interaction. (Also, my research focuses on public markets; this may explain my sentiments toward supermarkets.)

But Dreamy is a warm place. The Canadian Roasting Society (CRS) is the force behind Dreamy. The CRS was founded by Andy Kyres, owner of Tunnel Espresso, and Scott Rao, who co-founded (and later departed) Café Myriad. As Dreamy frequent flyers, we got to know Andy and learn more about coffee as well as the coffee market. Andy is, just like the place, a warm and humble person. He shares his extensive, multi-faceted knowledge in coffee, takes time to answer our questions (whether it be about coffee or about the place itself), and makes us some of the best coffee I have ever had in all my years of coffee consuming.

Figure 1. Coffee roasting at the CRS factory. Aiming to help independent cafés and other smaller-scale coffee roasters, the CRS provided the space and equipment needed for roasting coffee. Image source: Judy Chen. Montreal, 2021.

Andy said the pandemic accelerated the birth of Dreamy. Andy’s coffee shop, Tunnel, was shut down due to the pandemic. But coffee runs in Andy; he wanted to keep making and sharing coffee with other coffee lovers. Then Andy turned his eyes to the CRS.  Located in a warehouse on St-Patrick Street in Sud-Ouest, Montreal, Andy thought the openness of the factory space combined with the large outdoor space made a great candidate for a pandemic coffee venue.

Figure 2. The selection of coffees. Andy is committed to having anywhere from 14 to 18 different roasters available on their shelves at one time. Image source: Judy Chen. Montreal, 2021.

The CRS started with the vision of creating a coffee coworking space. This coworking space brings together and supports the coffee community. Dreamy, on the other hand, supports the Covid-affected community. The head baker of Dreamy, Missy Hansen Murphy, told us that she was a flight attendant until Covid hit. Baking has always been her interest and Dreamy provided her a platform to continue her passion in baking. While making delicious Southern-style biscuits to pair with coffee Missy Hansen Murphy also eagerly awaits the day when she can return to the skies.

Figure 3. Dreamy. Being hit by Covid, Andy continues making coffee here while Missy Hansen Murphy takes over the baking station. Image source: Judy Chen. Montreal, 2021.

Figure 4. The outdoor terrace. With help from the city government, Dreamy now has an eye-catching and fun terrace with tables surrounding the tree trunks. Image source: Judy Chen. Montreal, 2021.

Dreamy is not just a weekend pop-up; it is a place demonstrating the resilience of coffee culture. The strategic use of the factory space, the engagement of the community and the enthusiasm of urban dwellers—both the team behind Dreamy and us coffee lovers—together show the strength and determination humans possess.

Local Project Challenge: featuring local development solutions and ideas for action to accelerate the SDGs

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 interlinked goals - including 169 targets - that aim to put sustainable urbanization at the center of the global agenda by 2030. The SDGs were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 when 193 countries ratified a global plan for action to make cities safer, more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable. Since then, countries have committed to prioritizing efforts to meet the needs of the most vulnerable groups in our society and several projects worldwide have focused on oriented actions towards a more sustainable, equitable, and accessible future.

In light of this, the Local Project Challenge - a collaborative platform led by the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSDU) at Columbia University in partnership with the Graduate Program in Architecture of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (PROARQ / FAU-UFRJ) - was created to increase public awareness of SDGs, bringing together projects from all over the world which are committed to tackling some of the most urgent social, economic and environmental issues that we have been facing. This initiative challenged the participants to consider and localize the SGDs in their projects, sharing their stories and achievements through texts, photos, drawings, and videos. As a result, 111 projects from 39 countries representing the works of professionals, universities, NGOs, and local communities were displayed on the web gallery www.localprojectchallenge.org.

By engaging all stakeholders, and allowing everyone to be part of this knowledge-sharing experience, the LPC gallery can be considered a valuable network-building resource to demonstrate how cities can harness transformational change and ensure a better life for all those facing the challenges of an urbanizing world.

Art as the Decomposer: Conflating Natural Life Cycles to the Life Cycles of Cities

When thinking about roles art can play in cities, the idea of cyclical cities, which refers to how cities have life cycles of their own that mimic natural life cycles, offers guidance. While naturally, life cycles flow up the food chain to eventually return to its primitive beginnings; cities use competitive advantages to grow until said advantages are overpowered by others, leaving these cities less apt to prevent general decline.

This is the story of several post-Industrial, rust-belt cities including Buffalo, where educator and artist Dennis Maher has set up his artistic practice. His work is primarily concerned with bringing new life to the material excess of Buffalo’s past. Fargo House, perhaps Maher’s most well-known project, saw him explore the nuances of domesticity through the lens of reclamatory art. What I found the most interesting about Maher’s work was how he took the fragments of the past and gave them new value through art. In this manner, art can be used as decomposer to breed new life in cities that are seemingly past their prime.

What do you see in Yellow?

In her essay, Lewis (2010) addresses the “Yellow Town” landscape phenomenon in Lexington, KY in which a massing of yellow signage colour codes the poorest parts of the city with a vivid wash of bright yellow (p.184). While this bright, shiny, primarily-yellow coloured signage associates with the poorest areas of the city, in “nicer” parts of the city more understated blues, greens or greys are seen.

These colours—specifically yellow and grey—make me think of the colours of the year. Last December the Pantone Colour Institute revealed two hues for its colour of the year 2021: the neutral Ultimate Gray (Pantone 17-5104) and vibrant yellow Illuminating (Pantone 13-0647). In the year with undercurrents of uncertainty—owing to the global pandemic—Pantone wants to highlight how different elements, in this case the two extremely independent colours, come together to express the message of strength and hopefulness.

From this perspective, the bright, highlighter-yellow colour signifies the light at the end of the tunnel, the sun rising over a dark landscape, and even the dawning of hope that comes with the vaccines. The yellow here stands in sharp contrast with the yellow in Lexington and many other cities with the “Yellow Town” landscape. If put outside of the context of a town or signages, does yellow naturally mean vibrancy and hope? If colours are intrinsically linked with psychological associations, why do yellow signs inadvertently receive complaints (Lewis, 2010)? Does colour change its meanings (if it ever has a predetermined, set meaning) with the materiality they radiate through?

The Prenez Place! installation project in downtown Montreal reflects the Pantone colours of the year. Designed and first installed in the summer of 2020, the project was conceived to safely accommodate and attract Montrealers to reappropriate this public space (located at the Hydro-Quebec park at Quartier des Spectacles) while respecting the sanitary regulations. A 100 meter “urban table”, in bright yellow colour, was implanted between the existing furniture and trees. Visitors were invited to discover the full length of the table, find their place at the table while maintaining social distancing measures, and enjoy the colourful and vivacious atmosphere.

Figure 1. The Prenez Place! Installation in Montreal. Image source: Judy Chen. Montreal, 2021.

The bright yellow installation was joined by a palette of grey—the concrete pavement, the poles, and the fixed sitting furniture. ADHOC architectes, the team behind this installation, used bright yellow to brighten up the environment and to create optimism and fortitude following the difficult pandemic time. Yellow in this urban installation hence represents hope and joy.

This installation was a temporary festive public space and it was removed in October 2020. Earlier this month, the urban table is brought back again and this time with 200 meters of length. I was both surprised and pleased to see the urban table again. Temporary urban public spaces are constantly in the cycle of being produced, consumed, circulated and destroyed. The brightly-coloured yellow table is back into the urban cycle; it has not yet been destroyed and the stories it carries go on. It is this process that generates spontaneity and improvisation of urban space and hence creates rhythms to the urban life.

Figure 2. The urban table is back this year, starting in July 2021. The extended urban table runs through the Hydro-Québec Park, down Clark Street to Sainte-Catherine Street. Image source: Judy Chen. Montreal, 2021.  

Yellow may code poorer parts of the city. Yellow may represent hope and aspiration. What do you see in yellow?

200 Meters Film: Geo-political Urban Fragmentation

Urban fragmentation has been a dominant inherent feature of cities today, it is “A key tribute of the spatial structure of cities”. Urban fragmentation, whether we admit it or not, is a direct consequence of urban sprawl often associated with higher-income cities. However, one should pause for a moment when this phenomenon is driven by geo-political situation and when an apartheid system is celebrated and passed on through urban planning practices. 

This example was successfully portrayed in the UNESCO-medal-winning film “200 Meters'', by Ameen Nayfeh, where urban fragmentation is entangled with the concept of the right to the city. The film tells the story of a Palestinian father who lives 200 meters away from the rest of his family due to unique living conditions. Owing to the separation wall that divides their city into two fragmented sides, the father has to line up in long queues on a daily basis, so as to cross through checkpoints to reach his family's side. Each portion of the city along the wall falls under different jurisdictions (Palestine/Israel), distinguishing between people’s rights living on different sides. Here, the question of the right to the city arises, highlighting the geography of immobility controlling the Palestinian side, for the supposedly “security purposes”. The climax of the film is reached, when the once 200 meters daily journey of the father turns into a 200 km road trip. Due to the expired permission to cross the checkpoint, the father has to resort to “illegal” smuggler to make it to the other side, rushing to see his son who had a car accident. 

With that being said, urban fragmentation is not only an indication of higher-income cities. It could, also, be utilized as a planning tool that renders a city as unjust and exclusive. When intertwined with an apartheid system, it would create a marginalized population, depriving them from equal access to urban resources. 

Adaptative public spaces: building safe places for people during the COVID-19 pandemic

Closed streets in Manhattan, NYC. The initiative to open streets to pedestrians allowed communities to use public spaces - mainly in high-density neighborhoods - and was crucial to support small businesses during the COVID-19 shutdown. Author: Bruno Ragi (2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions have deeply changed the relationship of citizens to their streets, public spaces, and facilities. This crisis has shown the importance of public open spaces in combating the pandemic, either by directly limiting the spread of the virus, or providing ways for people to safely relax and carry out their livelihood. However, it has also demonstrated how public spaces are unevenly distributed throughout many cities - especially in low-income neighborhoods, where there are few shared open spaces such as parks, plazas, or playgrounds, highlighting the social and racial inequities that persist in our society. 

By revealing successful strategies and tactics, planners, designers, and community leaders have pointed the way towards more inclusive and adaptive methods in public spaces planning. From re-allocating road spaces to pedestrians and local businesses in NYC to adapting areas for food distribution or community food gardening in Rio de Janeiro, the shared use of streets and other open spaces has shown how public spaces have the power to be multi-functional and adaptable, helping our communities to address equitable access and envisage an end to the pandemic worldwide.