[Urban Shocker]

I assume that's an AGO-specific, Muybridge-inspired partygoer dashing for the last train home?

 

[nfitz]

I'll agree that Chester has indeed a beautiful station entrance. Those big swingie-doors always remind me of the Montreal Metro.

Perhaps, but a lot of people head out of Chester along that dingy walkway along the north side of that entrance. And whatever you get with a classic entrance like that, is lost when you have to work your way along that horrible brick wall on the north side of the building. The entrance should be designed so it looks good from all sides, when it is in such an open exposed place.

Yes but it's a bit too late for this type of lamentation. For 53 years the subway adheres to a certain look. To makeover every station would seriously bleed finances and the results might not necessarily look attractive anyway.

There's no need to make over every station for the sake of making over. But I don't see any need to preserve such the look and feel of what was constructed in 1966 along the BD line.

That being said, the recent work at some stations to re-whiten (repaint) the station lettering along the platform certainly looks sharp! Has this been redone from time to time, or is the current work the first time since the BD line opened.

 

[Observer Walt]

I saw Museum station yesterday for the first time in several weeks. It looked surprisingly good. The colour is nice, and there is a nod to the past (use of the TTC font) as well as to the predominant above-ground feature (the Museum itself). I still don't like the huge eye-assaulting font down there at one end, but it's not as dominant as I had thought it might be.

I am quite puzzled by the graphics which are apparently planned for St. Patrick. What do they have to do with anything? Horses trotting by in a parade? ... maybe appropriate if and when a station is built out at Woodbine. A sprinter? ... put it at the new Steeles station on the Spadina line, which will be situated quite close to the Track and Field Centre at York Univ.

Are there any official explanations for these? I'm afraid it eludes me completely.

 

[junctionist]

There must be, but it shows how silly things can get when the station design tries to reflect the contents of institutions in the area (especially private ones).

Use of the TTC font isn't really a nod to the past because while some recent stations haven't used it of course, it was never abandoned, and has been used in different places since its introduction.

 

[TKTKTK]

They're obviously trying to make a connection to moving pictures. The imagery they're using in the mock-up is from Muybridge's work. I'm not sure exactly how it fits in to St. Patrick, but that's what they're getting at.

 

[TKTKTK]

There must be, but it shows how silly things can get when the station design tries to reflect the contents of institutions in the area (especially private ones).

Other than Museum station, which is obvious and logical, what other stations are named/designed to "reflect the contents of institutions in the area (especially private ones)"?

 

[Edward Skira]

They're obviously trying to make a connection to moving pictures. The imagery they're using in the mock-up is from Muybridge's work. I'm not sure exactly how it fits in to St. Patrick, but that's what they're getting at.

The connection to moving pictures is Mary Pickford who was born and lived nearby until she moved out to Hollywood to be a big star. She was a founding member of United Artists.

 

[Earlscourt_Lad]

I'd much rather they left St. Patrick's green, and bereft of any "art". Frankly, I'd rather see more billboards along the walls across the tracks. They change frequently, provide some visual stimuli, and if you really don't like the design or whatever is being hawked, it will change in few weeks. Whereas some dodgy sprinters and horses; we'll be cursed with that for years.

 

[TKTKTK]

The connection to moving pictures is Mary Pickford who was born and lived nearby until she moved out to Hollywood to be a big star. She was a founding member of United Artists.

Birthplace of Mary Pickford, 211 University Ave. c.1916

Birthplace of Mary Pickford, University Ave., between 1920-1944

 

[rh-7]

I'd much rather they left St. Patrick's green, and bereft of any "art". Frankly, I'd rather see more billboards along the walls across the tracks. They change frequently, provide some visual stimuli, and if you really don't like the design or whatever is being hawked, it will change in few weeks. Whereas some dodgy sprinters and horses; we'll be cursed with that for years.

But the sprinters and horses will appear to be moving when viewed from the moving subway! It'll be like a movie! Way better than another Rogers ad. I like this idea.

 

[junctionist]

Other than Museum station, which is obvious and logical, what other stations are named/designed to "reflect the contents of institutions in the area (especially private ones)"?

None currently, and we're fortunate for that. But the redesign plan was supposed to have University line stations reflect the rich cultural institutions above such as ROM, AGO and Opera House.

 

[smuncky]

i think it would be neat if the images could be replaces every so often.

 

[adma]

Isn't there some AGO/Muybridge connection? That's more likely than anything moving picture/Mary Pickford-related...

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Continuing the Pickford/renovation theme to the extreme (and assuming wikipedia articles aren't lying), how bout nude portraits of Pia Zadora all over St. Patrick station?

 

[junctionist]

That would be so radically anti-Victorian. Not that I would base any objections on these grounds.