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LowPolygon

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it always seemed to me that, following the opening of the Eglinton subway in 1954, the corner of Yonge and Eglinton was an important part of the transformation of Toronto into a modern(ist) city. this accelerated when the TTC sold the air rights above the subway, and the Canada Square development was started in 1961.
Since it was north of the old heart of the city, there were no struggles with the Victorian streetscape, or any need to gut a beautiful older model of development. it was essentially tabula rasa for the city Toronto was to become.
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Twas cool when I was a young man. The subway car ended at Eglinton station; the 'end of the line' was a cinder block wall painted gray with a red light burning on it just so the operator wouldn't miss the point. EVERYBODY piled off to get on a bus from that underground bay. Bay # 1 was for years the Richmond Hill bus. Always wanted to take it. Many regrets I never did.:(
 
Nice images, very Panda. The crop marks, indicating how the photographer's shadow is to be removed, are fun. The mysterious subway men look like a cross between Joseph Beuys and the Rene Magritte rain man. The simple uncluttered look of the stations is a breath of fresh air.

Whenever I use one of those narrow, iron maiden restraint turnstiles I get a thrill that verges on the polymorphous perverse at the prospect of being trapped in it. I wonder if they were specifically designed for the TTC?
 
Those subway pictures are so depressing seeing how sleek and modern those stations looked at the time. There was such a strong visual language carried through the station and the signage was gorgeous.

I'd love to see the TTC try to recreate that vitrolite sleekness with some sort of glass panel system.
 
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Well they kinda did :)

At Eglinton (one of the nicer stations) there is red tiling on those columns in the station.

not quite glass but a nice touch either way.
 
Those subway pictures are so depressing seeing how sleek and modern those stations looked at the time. There was such a strong visual language carried through the station and the signage was gorgeous.

I'd love to see the TTC try to recreate that vitrolite sleekness with some sort of glass panel system.

besides the gorgeous vitrolite, the thing i find the most striking about these images is the almost complete lack of advertising. these images simply belong to another (better) world, before the absolute poisoning of all public and private space with a cacophonous, inane and ugly commercial realm.

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the thing i find the most striking about these images is the almost complete lack of advertising. these images simply belong to another (better) world, before the absolute poisoning of all public and private space with a cacophonous, inane and ugly commercial realm.

If it makes you feel any better, the world only gets worse every year.

That means that today's pictures that seem ugly now will actually look much better in 50 years when everything looks even worse!
 
Hey, lady ... don't write off the designers of the future! You never know what they'll come up with. For instance, in recent years a number of excellent local architects have given the realm of multi-unit housing a good name once more. Their design language is practical, sensible, and legible - the same aesthetic shown in the subway images that thedeepend has posted. The best work of today is our gift to a future ... where good designers will still be inspired by the excellence that went before them, just as they are now.
 
besides the gorgeous vitrolite, the thing i find the most striking about these images is the almost complete lack of advertising. these images simply belong to another (better) world, before the absolute poisoning of all public and private space with a cacophonous, inane and ugly commercial realm.

Something's gotta help cover up the stains and cracks...
 
Yonge and Eglinton: Midtown Modern-good 50s pics!

Deep End: Good group of pics centered on Yonge and Eglinton back in the 50s and 60s and the then-new TTC Yonge Subway. In one picture signs overhead said "WAY OUT" British-style instead of "EXIT" - Any idea about when the TTC changed the signs to read "EXIT"? My first Toronto trip was Summer 1979-the TTC had installed "EXIT" signs by then. I also miss those well-built Gloucester Red Subway cars too! LI MIKE
 
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besides the gorgeous vitrolite, the thing i find the most striking about these images is the almost complete lack of advertising. these images simply belong to another (better) world, before the absolute poisoning of all public and private space with a cacophonous, inane and ugly commercial realm.

Then again, to play devil's advocate, I can see how this may seem sterile, barren, "Kafkaesque" to a fault--perhaps even from day one--and why, exactly, Montreal's Metro wound up leaving Torontonians envious. That's one hair-shirt Spartan subway station, if you ask me--all the more so in black and white. It's like the absolute inverse of the Moscow system in its overall aesthetic effect. I mean, I like it, but...

Oh, and re the "WAY OUT" sign: of course, if such signage still existed, people would be inspired to sing
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