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PlanPhilly takes a close look at the fate of our beloved Toynbee Tiles
Flying Kite Staff
|
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
A fading Toynbee Tile at 34th and Chestnut
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The Toynbee Tiles -- linoleum text squares embedded in pavement across the city -- are a Philadelphia institution, and they're in danger of disappearing.
The city’s paving agreements stipulate that paving contractors must halt resurfacing and notify a Streets engineer if they come across a Toynbee Tile, those strange mosaic messages embedded into the pavement across Philadelphia.
The Tiles are at once part of our local lore and art known the world over, the product of a South Philly man with a tenuous grip on reality and a tremendous amount of creativity. The tiles have inspired imitators and thieves alike, not to mention
numerous
news
pieces
and one
award-winning documentary
. And with all signs suggesting the mysterious Tiler has left the city for good, the tiles are becoming ever more rare and in danger of extinction in their native habitat, Philadelphia.
The Streets Department wants to save a few for posterity, before their slow resurfacing process destroys the few left remaining that have managed to survive years of city winters and SEPTA buses. For Tonybee fans, that’s reason for hope.
Want to know more about the Toynbee Tiles? Check out the awesome, award-winning 2011 documentary
Resurrect Dead
.
Here's an interview Flying Kite did with director Jon Foy
.
Original source:
PlanPhilly
Read the complete story
here
.
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