Toronto Eaton Centre (Ongoing Renewal) | ?m | ?s | Cadillac Fairview | Zeidler

thecharioteer said:
Good article, NE. It's hard to believe that the Sears store was 816,000 SF (and was the largest Sears store in the world). Bloomingdale's on Lexington is 859,000, Sak's Fifth Avenue is 646,000 SF and Lord & Taylor is 611,000 SF. On the other hand Macy's on West 34th is 2.2 million SF.

(http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/the-makeover-department/)

Nordstrom's flagship store is Seattle is 383,000 SF.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordstrom

Neiman-Marcus's flagship store in Dallas is 129,000 SF.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neiman_Marcus_Building

Harrod's is the largest department store in Europe with about 1,000,000 SF, and Selfridge's has 540,000 SF.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrods

Le Bon Marche in Paris is 344,000 SF.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/style/18iht-fbon.html?_r=0
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KaDeWe in Berlin is about 645,000 SF, continental Europe's biggest AFAIK.

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JasonParis said:
I also recall when the Dundas portion of the Eaton Centre was actually called "Dundas Mall."
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Unlike the atrium above, the Dundas Mall was a gloomy, dirty feeling section of the Eaton Centre that is not missed.
 
The exterior of the store is all part of the Zeidler design of the Eaton Centre, but the interior fit-out would have gone to another firm.
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Pretty sure the Eatons store and the two office towers were designed by Bregman & Hamann, and Zeidler was responsible for the mall/atrium plus the Dundas Mall and original glass atrium attached to the Queen St office tower. I doubt Zeidler would have picked that mustard cladding. You can tell what fits into Zeidlers "High Tech" styling at TEC, and what doesn't.
 
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The late-1990s brick façade treatment to Yonge Street is one that doesn't fit the "high tech" styling at all. The reasoning for the change in streetwall made sense, the execution isn't in-keeping though with the overall building unfortunately.
 
I agree JasonParis, opening up the facade was a good idea but the aesthetic totally disrespects the original form.

As for the atrium and plaza I miss them too, but those features worked better prior to the development of Yonge/Dundas square. I'd prefer a stronger street wall or 'edge' now, just a better one than the one that's there!
 
One Nut Kruk said:
Are there any photos of this, "floating purple restaurant?"
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I've been trying to find photos of that area and can't! It's like it never existed. There was a Club Monaco in the area as well.

While the mustard yellow hasn't weathered particuarly well - the original composition of the store has been bastardized over the years. Originally the second floor had round windows (which have since been covered up) as well as a rounded flourish at the corner - that for some reason was removed around the time Sears took over. The entire Eaton Centre (except for the Atrium) has really been treated poorly over the years - the cohesiveness of the project has been remarkably lost.
 
Are there any photos of this, "floating purple restaurant?"
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I am not aware of any pictures at all. But, while watching the 1979 CBC documentary "Glen Gould's Toronto", you can get a brief glimpse of a small part of it. In fact, Gould is interviewed while sitting in it having tea. I guess it wasn't really purple...more like Yves Klein Blue. Originally, the Dundas Mall has a large open atrium to the lower floors. This restaurant was slightly lower than the street floor...you had to go down some steps to get to it, and it overlooked the atrium. Everything was covered in the "purple"...floors, walls, stairs, chairs. There was also a large set of various height stainless steel towers with fans at the top and neon. It was a decorative element to evoke the industrial/high-tech look of TEC.

It's strange to watch that video, as Toronto was really taking off at the time. Glen Gould was an interesting guide. LOL Toronto seemed so much more intellectual then....nothing as remotely stupid as a Rob Ford would even be thinkable. Glen Gould, Marshall McLuhan, Jane Jacobs, June Callwood, Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton...Toronto's movers & shakers of the 70's were thinkers....Toronto's movers & shakers today are generally ignoramuses.

Is it me, or does adma seem to have some Glen Gould-ish mannerisms?
 
freshcutgrass said:
I am not aware of any pictures at all. But, while watching the 1979 CBC documentary "Glen Gould's Toronto", you can get a brief glimpse of a small part of it. In fact, Gould is interviewed while sitting in it having tea. I guess it wasn't really purple...more like Yves Klein Blue. Originally, the Dundas Mall has a large open atrium to the lower floors. This restaurant was slightly lower than the street floor...you had to go down some steps to get to it, and it overlooked the atrium. Everything was covered in the "purple"...floors, walls, stairs, chairs. There was also a large set of various height stainless steel towers with fans at the top and neon. It was a decorative element to evoke the industrial/high-tech look of TEC.
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Start at around the 7:00 minute mark. This whole film should be watched by all UT'ers, it's a terrific piece of Toronto in the late 70's and Glenn Gould is amazing! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI-oPQ6m0Vs

[video=youtube;aI-oPQ6m0Vs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI-oPQ6m0Vs[/video]
 
The entire Eaton Centre (except for the Atrium) has really been treated poorly over the years
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What do you mean...the Atrium has probably suffered the worst blow. It used to feel like a street (a very well designed street), which was the entire point. Now it just feels like walking in any effing mall in Ontario. It's just a big empty feeling cavern with only individual store fronts standing out. That art installation running the length of the ceiling I'm sure is not even noticed by 1% of the public. CF should give lessons on how to spend big money ruining your assets and taking a chip out of the public realm.

It's better to demolish things, than leave them ruined for us to lament about. I'm waiting for them to continue pecking away at TD Centre. If anybody could manage to screw that up, it's CF.
 
Bamako said:
According to the floor plan (pdf) there's quite a bit of space behind the false wall between the two building cores along Dundas. Enough for a store it looks like.
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Something is wrong with that floor plan. (IE. Marks is located behind an employee corridor to TEC receiving?) It's not accurate when it comes to that section of the mall.

The space behind the hoarding never looked that big, but then again, they may have divided the space in a way that created another false wall, making it look smaller than it really is.

Does anyone have any pictures of what this part of the Eaton Centre looked like from the outside before Ryerson/CTC/Best Buy were built?
 
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