the lemur
Senior Member
If the tiles are fragile but largely intact, is there a way of cleaning them up and putting them behind a clear barrier?
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Original Vitrolite station tiles
- Thread starter mgl
- Start date
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Yeah I do prefer that more than the original vitrolite. It's up in my top 5 Toronto station designs. But I do wish they did something a little more creative for Torontos most important station. The design is rather forgettable. Some public art would be a fantastic addition to that station (and I mean something creative and unique like the interactive art at Union; not just a typical and forgettable mural on a wall). Bloor-Yonge feels like a wasted oppertunity considering the space they had to work with and the importance of the station.
Johnny Au
Senior Member
At least the Bloor-Yonge renovation kept the Toronto subway font.
adma
Superstar
Though remember, too: the Bloor-Yonge reno only involved the Yonge platforms (and I believe was also motivated by the Xerox Building construction at the south end). Beyond that, nothing (i.e. that which was 1966-aesthetic rather than 1954-aesthetic) was changed--and perhaps it's *that* which fuels the "forgettable" or "wasted opportunity" impression...
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Oh, I know the Bloor-Danforth Line platform wasn't renovated. I was only talking about the platform on Yonge Line. Regardless of what happened on the Bloor Line, they could've done much better with the rest of the station.
The designers did the bare minimum for a good design. They picked a good colour scheme, decent materials and the wall and column paneling is the best in the system. But other than that they didn't do anything distinctive to the station.
With the space they had they easily coluldve implemented interesting geometry, artwork (maybe even interactive art) or lighting features, into the station design, but there isn't so much as a painting to be seen anywhere.
AlbertHWagstaff
Senior Member
Ad space! Ad space! Ad space! Art doesn't pay rent to the media company. Sadly it's all driven by the need to plaster wrap ads all over the walls and the electronic ad screens.
adma
Superstar
However, remember that it all post-dates the early 90s Yonge renos--ad wraps weren't really a "thing" yet, and of course the electronic-screen technology didn't exist then. So the ad presence then was IIRC basically the same as it would've been in 1954: ads attached to the centre piers, etc.
What mattered was *space* space (y'know, an antidote to overcrowding) and a certain durable elegance (yes elegance) in materials and wall treatments. Hence, it was the most "excusable" of the 1954-line renos; because it was more than just retiling...
crs1026
Superstar
Yes.... it was a hugely successful reno at the level of the civil engineering....getting rid of the center collumns, raising the ceiling and widening the platforms gives it a distinct cut above the rest of the line. It's airy, even at rush hour.
It's much harder to get everyone on the same page with respect to finishes, colours, lighting, graphics, etc. Tastes differ, some want retro and some want futuristic etc. These things certainly matter, although I suspect that if the TTC did a station that we could all rave about today, we would all be complaining about how tired and dated it looks in only a few years. By that standard, Bloor is at least innocuous and has held up over a certain number of years.
We love the Vitrolite look now - especially as a glimpse of past grandeur - but there were years when it was detested - which is why TTC tried other things. I can live with anything that is bright and easy to keep clean.
- Paul
APTA-2048
Senior Member
In an alternate world where Osgoode was never renovated...
The last trains reflected in these tiles were probably red by Adrian Badaraco, on Flickr
The last trains reflected in these tiles were probably red by Adrian Badaraco, on Flickr
adma
Superstar
Actually, the Gloucester cars were already sharing space with silver trains (the first of which were commissioned around the time of the University Line's opening, in fact)
Amare
Senior Member
That 40+ year old Vitrolite- negligible condition aside -looks better than the garbage they'll be putting up in a few weeks .
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
The paneling is so lazily some done that I'd rather see cracked vitrolite.
crs1026
Superstar
http://transit.toronto.on.ca/photos/ttc-exhibition-display-19530919.jpg
One more station name - in the original font.
- Paul
One more station name - in the original font.
- Paul
M II A II R II K
Senior Member
They should do what they did with St. Andrew and just put up a newer version of the old thing.
I'd be totally fine with that. To me, stations should be reflective of the time period in which they were built. Spadina's stations may look horribly dated now, but at least they have character. To be in them is like going back in time. The same could be said for Union (Train) Station and the Great Hall. Even in NYC, going along the original Broadway line and seeing the early 1900s mosaic tiling is amazing.
Restoring the Yonge and University Line stations to as close to their original look as possible should be the goal, especially stations that haven't undergone a significant transformation since opening (unlike Union and Bloor-Yonge).