Historicist: Life in Wartime
Elsewhere in the Ist-a-Verse
A little more of the renovation of Museum subway station has been revealed, showing oddly contrasting purple columns and white moulded volutes. (See also Rannie Turingan's video taken from a train pulling into Museum station.) Still under wraps until the official unveiling in April are the individual column designs themselves.
The subway revitalization project, which includes Museum, Osgoode, and St Patrick stations, has not been without its critics. Joe Clark calls the project a "desecration," and, along with transit advocate Matthew Blackett and heritage architect Michael McClelland, laments the deliberate loss of a consistent visual identity with other stations in the network.
Photos by Miles Storey. Thanks to Richard Sigesmund for the tip.
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That is looking great
Not gonna lie, I'm excited about seeing those columns. I like the orange hieroglyphic-ized Museum sign too.
I thought so too, passing through it to avoid Queen and Bathurst the last 2 days. I'm kinda excited to see the final product.
All in all, I really don't get the argument that stations need a "consistent visual identity". The worst part of taking the subway is the monotony, since you can't watch out the windows between stations. Why would anyone want to make the stations themselves monotonous too?
When I was coming home from the Raptors game on February 13th I saw a few of the pillars had been unveiled. I thought they looked kind of tacky from the brief glimpse I saw of it, but maybe it isn't finished yet.
I'd rather have an inconsistent, interesting city than a boring, consistent one.
I think the consistency that people are saying the design is lacking isn't necessarily a call for all stations to look exactly the same. Rather that there should be enough consistent elements, especially in terms of signage and furniture, so that the system as a whole has an identity.
There's plenty of room within that for individualization of stations, it just takes good design with an overall plan.
Wasn't the last TOist post on this subject on this specifically lamenting the fact that they aren't using those ugly-ass bathroom tiles to redo Pape station, as though the endless trek through white-tiled bathroom B-D stations was an aesthetic we need to be preserving?
Let's make 'em as different as possible!
One vote for "it looks cool and I would like more of this sort of thing." The most important design aspect of the TTC - namely, the font for the station name - has been left intact. Thus, I am content.
I think it's a great idea. It looks consistent enough that you can tell it's TTC, but unique enough to be interesting. I can't wait to see the finished product!
James, You're referring to this post? There's no specific lamenting on our part of ugly-ass bathroom tiles in that post.
Again, Torontoist isn't advocating that all stations all have to look the same, even the people we reference in the post as critics of the redesign aren't saying that. Having all stations look exactly the same is very different from retaining a visual identity across the subway system.
In my personal opinion every station on the map can have a different look and still retain a consistent identity. But the TTC doesn't seem to have a 'style guide' for its system at all.
I'm pretty much all for "station revitalization", but I guess at least here, I'm in the minority of thinking that the redesign looks silly. Maybe once they're unveiled, the columns will tie the colour scheme together, but I'm not much feeling the combination of dark yellow and a sad, sickly purple. I'm eager to see the completely finished design, but the walls, for example, didn't inspire much confidence when they went up -- they don't particularly look like they'd hold up to a test of time (physically and aesthetically).
I also thought one of the points of a distinctive redesign was so that people could recognize the station simply by its design elements. That the designers felt they still needed to slap a tiny black "MUSEUM" -- why not further along the platform? -- above the giant hieroglyphic letters seems a little unnecessary.
I like the look.
The name is clear, that's the important thing. I hope they stay away from the amateurish artwork at College and Queen stations.
To what extent does the renovation cover? While perfectly fine on their own I think that the new additions clash horribly with pretty much everything else.
Wait. It’s April now?
I'm also looking forward to the completed station. Other transit systems around the world have some awesome variety in their stations. Perhaps things like the font on the basic signage could still be consistent, but that won't get my shorts in a knot. (Don't Paris Metro signs vary from Art Deco to a very recent "Parisine typeface"?)
I do see one potential problem: the square stone base of each column sticks out further than the column itself. As hurried passengers walk closely past the columns, will they trip over the corner of the bases? Perhaps the TTC will then add some butt-ugly warning tape, or pay someone big bucks to round off the bases after the fact...
I personally don't care about the aesthetics of the station --while I think 'revitilization' is nice and I have heard that other cities subway systems look better than ours, I believe this money could have been put to better use.
I read all the criticisms over the last few months (particularly Joe Clark's) and I understand them, but I still like the Museum station reno quite a bit. [Shrug]
Was wasting millions of dollars on this necessary? No. That's the bottom line. I mean with the TTC facing all those scary budget woes, they still have the balls to give stations unneeded makeovers?
That aside, I find it pretty funny that they've kept the yellows tiles at the escalators and above, too. Now that's consistency (rolls eyes).
Antiboy, I think the attraction of this particular project to the TTC, renovating Museum, St Patrick and Osgoode, is that part of the funding is coming from a private group called the Toronto Community Foundation.
Joe, April is our understanding.
Sam F, I noticed that too, but wondered if the columns underneath the coverings have yet to be completed. Perhaps the completed columns come up flush to the edge of the elevated floor.
No, the name isn't readable.
Anyone that's come down the stairs knows what station they're in. The signs on the station walls are for the people on the trains. That's why they're all small enough to be visible out the train window, except Museum's.
Whoa, I'm totally surprised by the comments. Most of you people like the redesign? I was under the impression that we hated it!
By we, I mean the general mood of Torontoist and its commenters since the redesign started. I've always thought that it was a pretty fun idea, but figured I was alone. Guess not.
April!?! I thought they would need more time to:
1, redo the whole ceiling. Waterproof it, maybe? Just look at all the other stations with icicles hanging like poor man chandelier...
2, redo the floor tiles
3, get rid of that cage thing at the end of the station
4, replace all the lighting (the mummies told me that they don't like fluorescent tubes)
Don't tell me the fund was only enough to do all these superficial (yet fun, don't get me wrong) reno....
ehhh. i like the look of the new text itself, along with the colour, although the size is maybe a bit unnecessary. but the columns are just sort of laughably, embarassingly cheesy.
I'm waiting to see the final thing before deciding anything.
Miles: only half of the funding is coming from the TCF... the other half is coming from, yep you guessed it, the TTC.
I think it's less than that Antiboy, but my point was that there was a seduction of the TTC by the TCF, who, according to reports I've read, are the ones who approached the TTC with this renovation project. It's something the TTC would have been unlikely to come up with on their own I suspect.
What really blows my mind is that there was apparently no tender for the design. The civic contracts I've worked on require a tender process for anything over $25k. I know the TTC probably has its own set of rules but still.
@21: No, that's my point. The tile colour system was also designed so that people should be able to get at least a quick idea of what station they're in. Since the Museum design is even more distinctive, it's just so weird they felt they needed to add more "Museum" tags in such a slapdash way. I think it was possible for them to combine both form and function in a more integrated way.
I'll probably like it more once it's finished and I'm used to it, but I can't see why a station redesign should just make me go "I'll live with it" instead of "I can see why they did this!"
In my article on the Madrid Underground video, I mentioned that the TTC, from a tourist perspective, is really poor at marketing itself as part of any "trip to Toronto" experience. The Museum station reno will work well toward that. I realize that tourism is a tiny part of TTC's daily use, but people getting on and off the ROM will remember that experience, take photos, etc. I also suspect that once it's finished an we're used to it, we'll end up loving it and defending it.
Plus, Museum station was in really dumpy shape and was a leaky, claustrophobic mess. I'm also a big fan of the enormous MUSEUM, although it is kerned all wrong. It would have been fantastic if they could have subtly backlit the MUSEUM and been a little more creative with the lighting, especially around the columns. I didn't even see those raised platforms under the columns at first—I wonder how many people are going to trip over them, and how long until stick-on hazard tape will be slapped on.
Full agreement with Miles on not tendering projects like this...what's with the TTC and not properly tendering contracts (merch, for example)?
I can't wait to see how looks after a few months of brake dust gets into all the little crevices. It'll be just as grimy as the other stations, but we'll at least have some variety in the grime.
I like it. It adds visual interest, something Toronto could use more of.
I saw an unveiled column a while ago. It was a totem pole kind of thing. Kinda cool.
I love the wrapped poles - looks like contemporary art! I hope they don't remove the wrapping and leave it exactly as is!
I'd prefer something that has capital-D "Design" oozing from it (like, say, London Underground Jubilee Line stations or even Millenium Line Skytrain stations) but I'll take cheesy columns anyday over disgusting, unrenovated stations. This is what the depravity of the TTC has brought us to - being grateful for kitsch.
Wow, good point about those column bases. Better put some trash cans or benches there to keep people from tripping over them, especially the base extension between columns.
As a point of comparison, check out New York's equivalent of a "Museum" station - it serves the Natural History Museum and was redone a couple years ago. You might find it too boring, since it keeps most of the typical subway tile, though they are also tastefully accented with murals, fossils and floor patterns. Here are some links:
http://snurl.com/20611
http://snurl.com/20612
http://snurl.com/20617
The kitschier the better if you ask me, but then my favourite subway station is the Arts et Metiers one in Paris. It's a museum stop too.
I always thought it would be cool to have an unexpected art display in the subway tunnel, they'd take advantage of the movement to make images or sculpted walls come to life like in a film.
Feel free to steal that idea, TTC.
I hope that this will be the end of kitsch, that design competitions will be held for every station, and that future redesigns respect the many present design strengths. This isn't too much to ask.
There's actually a lot of great design in Toronto's subway, and not just in the Spadina line (which has some fantastic stations).
We're getting some new stations in the subway extensions, and they should take the first two suggestions into consideration in my first paragraph above. Because if left out to some bureau, we'll get something like the Imperial Oil Building on St. Clair (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Imperial_Oil_Buildinga1.JPG), which what our City Hall was supposed to look like.
That "amateur art" on the Yonge line is by some rather important artists:
From http://transit.toronto.on.ca/spare/0008.shtml
Charles Pachter, a Canadian icon probably best remembered for his mischievous pop-art paintings of Queen Elizabeth astride a moose, created a pair of murals for College Station depicting another set of Canadian icons. Created in 1984, when nearby Maple Leaf Gardens was still the home of hockey in Toronto, "Hockey Knights In Canada" shows the Leafs facing off against the Montreal Canadiens across the tracks. In addition, photos of famous Leafs adorn the walls of the platform and mezzanine.
One stop south, at Dundas, is William McElcheran's "Cross Section", a busy scene of shoppers, dogs, portly fedora-wearing businessmen and other commuters. Sculpted in terra cotta and fired in two-foot-square sections, the mural covers the walls by the underground entrance to the Atrium on Bay, and even spills over into the downstairs passage between platforms.
And finally, "Our Nell" celebrates the history and architecture around Queen Station. John Boyle's painted mural appears on the platforms on either side, starring Nellie McClung, New City Hall and the Eaton Centre.