Toronto 2 Queen West | 34.44m | 7s | Cadillac Fairview | Zeidler

[ProjectEnd]

From the current Massey Tower site:

 

[Skeezix]

I remember that Eaton's facade, the part beneath the porthole windows on the second floor - it was kind of lovely early in the morning, because they played classical music on the speakers to keep homeless people and kids from congregating. It made for a nice walk down Yonge Street.

 

[steveve]

Thanks for posting all the old photos of the Eatons Yonge street facades over the years. I hadn't realized how much it had changed over the years.
Something about both iterations seems much more life like and inviting than what currently exists (before and after the current renovations).
Many aspects of the entire complex seem very much tacked on with each iteration taking up more and more space.

 

[ProjectEnd]

A few more:

The walkway @Skeezix is referring to:

 

[Tuscani01]

This is the only image that I know of that depicts the Yonge Street facade (from the early 1980s).

Here's another from the archives, pre-Eaton Centre:

 

[ProjectEnd]

It's pretty much been death by a thousand cuts since the thing opened. How can anyone say that the updates have made it 'better'?

 

[devjohnson]

This corner will make a great retail space. Exterior corner entrance & interior entrance will be ripe for the picking.

If not Apple, any other major retailer would be happy to have this space.

I'd also love an Eataly type restaurant here!

 

[AndreaPalladio]

It's pretty much been death by a thousand cuts since the thing opened. How can anyone say that the updates have made it 'better'?

No one could say they have made it worse, either. Just different.

 

[ProjectEnd]

Really? In those two images, I'd say it's pretty clear that things are worse today. Less pedestrian space, more lifeless, blank retail faces, no trees...

Perhaps that's not the case along the whole facade (though I'd argue it is), but the negative 'difference' in those two images is pretty glaring...

 

[Skeezix]

I liked the old Eaton's store design, particularly at the north end. The changes Sears made were not an improvement - I think that was a turn for the worse. The Yonge Street facade of the mall appears to have been better intentioned than perhaps implemented, and it didn't age well. At least it all fit together with the rest of the mall. The post-1990s facade with the bricks and billboards was also a step backwards, but unlike the Eaton's store, the Yonge Street facade was a mess by the 1990s. It's just a shame they replaced an admirable, but failed, attempt at an animated facade with garbage.

Thanks for all the photos, @ProjectEnd.

 

[Skeezix]

I don't actually remember the trees by the 1990s. They might have disappeared for reasons unrelated to the mall. I simply can't recall. Does someone have a better memory on that front?

 

[stjames2queenwest]

I can't say I like the then or the now. But I think the mall is already looking a BIT better than it did a few years ago and this restoration at queen looks promising.

 

[ProjectEnd]

The worst thing about the ridiculous Yonge Street facade is that it's basically a goofy Potemkin movie set. At least there's a chance we could rip the whole thing down and start over if anyone so desired. That would, however, rely on the benevolence of the design/urban-clueless-clowns at Cadillac Fairview:

 

[modernizt]

I'm not sure it falls to the shoulders of the Cadillac-Fairview people at the Eaton Centre that we live in a country that lacks appreciation for great architecture (or doesn't place value on good architecture as something which should be readily used/maintained/accessible) across Canada. Ideally they would work harder to maintain the architectural integrity of this property, but surely it's not a stretch to see how things begin to degrade over several decades and a steady number of employees coming and going.

Architecture in North America is generally seen as something "special", "extra", or "beyond", and is seen as an extraneous indulgence, as opposed to something that a mall or mid-priced house or condo or fire station (etc. etc.) should possess and that all income levels should have access to. I don't think that means that Cadillac Fairview's employees, who surely have job descriptions that cover a wide array of concerns, are "clowns".

I've voiced my criticisms of the Eaton Centre and how its architectural legacy has been handled and various times bastardized, but the fact that its management gave into architectural/urban design trends that you don't like, does not make them 'clowns'.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

The Eaton Center was never great architecture. It was and is a mall.