Excerpt from www.ttc.ca:
York University Station is located in the heart of the York University Campus, crossing diagonally under Ian Macdonald Boulevard, with the main entrance in the Harry W. Arthurs Common. The York University Station is intended to remove the existing bus service currently circulating through the Common, and to provide pedestrian access for existing and future facilities and developments on the York University campus. The necessary TTC, YRT, Viva, and GO bus services will be relocated to bus terminals at Pioneer Village Station and Highway 407 Station.
The main entrance is located on the west side of Ian Macdonald Boulevard with two covered entry wings rising up to the north and south side of the Common. The entrance also has a lightwell from the Common providing daylight into the concourse and views to the campus. A roof structure links the two entrance pavilions and the lightwell. Glazing on the east side of the entrance structure provides natural light down to the concourse level. The lightwells in the Common provide passenger orientation and opportunities for daylight harvesting according to the Toronto Green Standard.
The York University Station project incorporates the following environmental initiatives:
Cool roof and green roofs;
Increased daylight levels to reduce electric lighting power usage;
LED lighting in pylon signs, and energy efficient lighting in illuminated wayfinding;
Water efficient plumbing fixtures;
Energy efficient HVAC system;
Reduced storm water runoff into the municipal drainage system by utilizing green roof landscaping and soft, landscaping areas adjacent to other building runoff areas;
26 short term bicycle parking spaces; and
Landscaping with native and drought tolerant species provided.
A major element of this station design is the roof over the upper concourse and entrances in the Common. This metal roof is considered a cool roof as it has a high solar reflectance and absorbs little heat.
The roof is clad in standing seam anodized aluminum panels with anodized aluminum cladding to the ring beam. Glazing is bird-friendly fritted glass in painted steel curtain wall framing. The emergency exit buildings and secure bicycle storage will have green roofs and will be clad in opaque glass panels. Hard landscaping will be concrete. Soft landscaping will be generally hardy and low maintenance for durability in the local environment.
Tags: Toronto Transit Commission TTC York University Station Yonge-University Line Line 1 Extension Toronto Ontario Canada
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Tags: Sheppard Station Toronto Transit Commission TTC Toronto Ontario Canada Level 1-Photography for Recreation
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Tags: Toronto Transit Commission TTC Finch West Station Yonge-University Line Line 1 Extension Toronto Ontario Canada Photography Vision
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Excerpt from www.thestar.com on December 22, 2017:
What would you tell your fellow transit travelers with eight characters? Senior TTC management doesn’t want to know.
They’re so worried about it, they’ve refused to open a $500,000 interactive public art installation as it is — even though it was already approved and paid for — at a new subway station out of concern it could be used for “hate speech or other misuse.”
The installation at the new Pioneer Village station, called LightSpell, serves as functional lighting and allows transit users to immediately display messages throughout the station using one of five interfaces installed on the platform.
The installation is “an experiment of the freedom of speech of the individual versus the influence of the group,” Jan Edler, a co-founder of realities:united, the German art studio behind the project.
“You can not only enter text anonymously, but you can also override and erase text anonymously. The censoring of inappropriate content if there is any is not done through an automated system but is being organized or is supposed to be organized by the group of people in the station,” he said.
After approving the art installation for the new Pioneer Village subway station and spending half a million dollars on it, the TTC has decided it won't allow it to operate until they've addressed concerns about hate speech.
Edler said he was surprised to hear from the TTC shortly before the station opening earlier this month that the art piece would not be inaugurated at the same time.
The transit commission has concerns “about hate speech and the potential for the installation to be misused by some,” said Stuart Green, a spokesperson for the TTC.
“We support free speech, not hate speech,” he said.
While the art piece was already approved by the TTC, and the $500,000 price tag paid for, Green said the current senior management was only made aware of the LightSpell installation’s “potential for hate speech and misuse” recently.
Jan Edler of realities:united, the art studio behind the LightSpelll installation at the new Pioneer Village subway station, says the TTC's decision not to open to art installation took them by surprise.
Those concerns, including whether the TTC would have responsibility for any content displayed, were discussed “quite thoroughly” throughout the process, including with TTC lawyers, Edler said.
It was agreed the mechanism that allowed others to erase messages was “an appropriate” way to address those concerns, he added.
While Green said the TTC has spoken with the artists to try to find a compromise that both “honours their concept while recognizing that the TTC has an obligation and responsibility to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all,” no agreement has been reached at this point.
The installation won’t be turned on until they do, he said, adding that the issue will come before the TTC board in January if no solution is found before then.
Edler, meanwhile, said “the discussion with the TTC shows the relevance of the theme — how is opinion and freedom of speech possible in public spaces and how does the group react, how does our society react?”
Tags: Toronto Transit Commission TTC Pioneer Village Station Line 1 Extension Yonge-University Line Toronto Ontario Canada LightSpell Photography Vision ArtworxTO Public Arts Public Arts Toronto TTC Subway: Downsview Park to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
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Excerpt from TTC.ca:
From now until May, TTC customers will notice something different about two low-floor streetcars and two downtown subway stations. In anticipation of internationally-renowned artist Yayoi Kusama’s upcoming exhibit, Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), parts of the system are being taken over by polka dots.
The TTC is surprising and delighting customers and Torontonians with a sneak peek of Kusama’s iconic dots in few-of-a-kind installations designed by the artist especially for the TTC. Customers travelling through Spadina and St Patrick stations or on one of the specially wrapped low-floor streetcars will be treated to the preview and encouraged to share some ‘spots’ with their fellow riders.
The AGO exhibit – the artist’s only Canadian showing - will run from March 3 to May 27, 2018 and will feature the North American debut of numerous new works by the 88-year-old Japanese artist. The TTC is proud to partner with the AGO on this highly anticipated event to bring Torontonians an exclusive, immersive experience.
Tags: Yayoi Kusama St. Patrick Station Toronto Transit Commission TTC Toronto Ontario Canada Art Gallery of Ontario AGO Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors Photography Vision Dices 01
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