Toronto Union Subway Station: Second Platform and Concourse Improvements | ?m | ?s | TTC | IBI Group
ehlow
Senior Member
I wouldn't mind if more of our stations had the same aesthetic as the new Union station platforms: clean, white tiles, brightly lit.
Rather than the sometimes dull & dark colours they currently have, like Dundas. Or even if they keep colours, next time they should be brighter even colours and more brightly lit.
Rather than the sometimes dull & dark colours they currently have, like Dundas. Or even if they keep colours, next time they should be brighter even colours and more brightly lit.
nfitz
Superstar
There was light upgrade going on, that really improved how gloomy some of the stations were. They've done (among others) Bathurst, Chester, Pape, St. George. But I haven't seen any done for a while. Anyone any idea what happened to this?
kotsy
Senior Member
Ex-squeeze me? Baking powder?
wopchop
Building Toronto
What?
Maybe you're looking at NYC through rose-coloured tourist glasses? Most stations (especially in the outer boroughs) are dank, dirty, stripped-down holes in the ground with little redeeming qualities beyond the fact that it lets you access a mammoth transit network (a big plus, I'll admit).
kotsy
Senior Member
It's a line from Wayne's World. It means "excuse me. I beg your pardon."
To say that every single station is worse than Dundas is ridiculous to say the last. I've seen NYC's shit hole stations but they have loads of gorgeous stations filled with art as well.
ehlow
Senior Member
Maybe not every single, but most NYC subway stations are uglier than Dundas (and the other old TTC stations) I'd say. They also have those metal girders in the way between the train and platform.
Probably same with Boston, I'd say. Just talking station looks here, not other aspects of the transit system.
However, there's charm & character to some with older stations. I still like NYC & Boston's systems, it's just that it's often dark, dirty with low ceilings and sometimes badly maintained & old.
nfitz
Superstar
They do? All the ones I've seen are either dank, or well worn. There's some good mosaics in some, but most seem to smell of urine somewhere - at least of the ones I tend to visit.
Amare
Senior Member
2 words for everyone complaining about the tiling on the B-D Line...Lawrence West.
Just imagine if the stations on the B-D line looked like that.
Just imagine if the stations on the B-D line looked like that.
kotsy
Senior Member
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/artwork
There's so much art in the NYC subway that there is a tour.
http://www.nycsubwaytour.com/
There's so much art in the NYC subway that there is a tour.
http://www.nycsubwaytour.com/
junctionist
Senior Member
Imagine if they looked like Eglinton West with brick walls, architectural concrete framing, coffered ceilings, extensive glazing and backlit aluminum-framed signage. That would be wonderful. Lawrence West's platform level hasn't aged well with its imposing concrete walls, but the entrance pavilions are impeccable with their combination of brick finishes and orange-framed windows. The idea behind the architecture was to create a contrast of heaviness and lightness between the two levels at the station.
CDL.TO
Moderator
No need to straw man, kotsy. I didn't say every single station, I qualified it with "almost" to recognize that there are some important exceptions.
There's some nice works of art here and there, and I like the station name tilework in many of the stations, but the sheer majority of the stations in New York are poorly-maintained and clearly weren't designed with aesthetics in mind which makes them uglier than Dundas in my view.
Really, Dundas's only crime is the hideous colour of the tiles, otherwise there isn't anything particularly ugly about it. I'm a fan of the artwork near the entrance to AoB.
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nfitz
Superstar
Hideous? It's a pleasant break from the banality of the BD line. It's a bit 1970s/early 1980s perhaps ... but those were the times. Those brown tiles at College seem worse in my mind - though at least it has the mosaics.
junctionist
Senior Member
The worst design element I've seen in the subway system is Wilson Station's fake plants. They look like fake Christmas tree branches. Most Spadina line stations were designed by independent Canadian architectural firms and have interesting design features. St. Clair West and Wilson were designed by the TTC's in-house architects. St. Clair West turned out to be a decent station; Wilson is quite ugly. The exterior looks like a utilitarian garage. I wouldn't mind seeing it demolished and rebuilt.