Meggie Macdonald

I have recently moved back to Canada from the UK and, although there was a vague reference to the reconstructed face of Museum subway station in Toronto in the news before I left, I had entirely forgotten about it until I returned to the city and saw it for myself.

The new station, a significant improvement on the old yellowed tile walls much in need of renovation, has pillars in the shape of figures including West Coast totem poles, Central American gods, Egyptian sarcophagi, and Doric columns.  In addition, the TTC text identifying the station now showcases Egyptian hieroglyphs from behind a clear cut-out.

In a single move, the Royal Ontario Museum has highlighted the best of its collections – images that are immediately evocative of coming face-to-face with magical statues as a child visiting the museum for the first time.  As part of the TTC’s revitalization project, architectural firm Diamond and Schmitt have designed and achieved a very appealing result for Museum station. 

Following further investigation, however, I found that there are few who think highly of the new design and instead they lament what one article called the TTC’s quintessential ‘washroom stations’.  One piece in Transit Toronto by Alex Bozikovic highlights the issues surrounding the lukewarm reception the renovation has received:  the TTC’s graphic identity.  Like Transport for London in the UK, who similarly hold the copyright on the font used for the graphic text on the Underground (Johnston, or Johnston Sans), the TTC’s famous font - Toronto Subway Regular – is the exclusive property of the TTC.  As one element that contributes to the Toronto subway’s graphic identity, this font as well as the tiled designs in most of the stations created in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are treated as a child treats a worn-out favourite teddy bear:  they will fight for it to stay exactly the same, missing limbs and loose button eyes and all, and will fight vehemently.

I think the character of public transit should be cultivated so that the public takes an active and personal interest in its welfare.  But taking it to the point where anything new is treated as a visual irritation, forcing die-hard enthusiasts to avert their eyes, is ridiculous.  Character is not static, not immutable, but polymorphic and eternally so.  It doesn’t matter if that character belongs to a person, an inanimate object, or an ideal.

I think that the newly renovated Museum station draws the eye to the ROM above the same way that, for example, Holborn station does for the mighty British Museum nearby.  You know a cultural centre is nearby, and a spur-of-the-moment decision could get you there.  And remembering to think about your surroundings is something that more people should do generally.  I applaud Diamond and Schmitt for their creative efforts, and look forward to seeing their designs for two further stations – St. Patrick (Art Gallery of Ontario) and Osgoode (Toronto Performing Arts Centre) – come to fruition.