Forget about the signs for now. That might be hard given Toronto’s Dundas Square is on its way to being the most signed public space north of New York’s Time Square -- but try.

Instead, think back ten years to the tired commercial buildings that stood on the southeast corner of Dundas and Yonge. In those days, the place opposite the main entrance to the Eaton Centre could have been one of any number of nondescript intersections in the city. There was nothing special about it. That was the problem.

Successful, the Eaton Centre acted like a giant vacuum. The city’s biggest shopping centre sucked the street and the people on it inside its doors. Outside, Toronto’s nearby blocks emptied. The only businesses able to thrive on the resulting vacancy were public space destroying bargain shops and shady entertainment vendors.

Things changed in the nineties.

First, the Eaton Centre let down its eastern walls. Instead of controlled entry points separated by hundreds of metres of blank walls, the Centre let shops open their doors all along Yonge at street level. This single design change breathed life into the barren strip of Yonge Street from Queen up to Dundas. It gave pedestrians a reason to walk along the outside street. Out of town visitors lining up for the increasingly popular Toronto Film Festival could feel the difference. The city’s main street – like its sister the thriving Queen Street West -- suddenly had a buzz.

Planners decided to make the corner of Yonge and Dundas the city’s symbolic core. To do that required an act of faith and a belief that “if they built it people would come.” The city expropriated buildings on the Dundas Square site and knocked them down.

In their place, officials wanted an urban square to act as a catalyst for development. It sounds wrong – knocking down buildings in the centre of the city helps development? It is true, but takes a while.

James Brown of Brown + Storey Architects, the square’s designers, says, “The square is a subtraction that allows you to add.” Skeptical at first, doubters are now beginning to see what he means.

Ryerson University is adding new buildings near the northeastern edge of the square. The “Olympic Torch” tower landmarks its eastern end. To the south, the Hard Rock Café’s terrace provides an edge. The Eaton Centre added giant signs to mark its new entrance while addressing the square. At the northwest corner, a sign-holding structure climbs ten storeys above the roof of a newly renovated GAP store.

There is more. The massive Metropolis entertainment and shopping development now rises on the square’s northern edge. Designed by Franklin and Baldwin Architects for Penequity Management, the 360,000 square foot, 10 storey building will dominate the square’s outdoor space (a review of the building’s design can wait).

This brings us back to the signs. Dundas Square is popular. According to Penequity, 56 million people visited the corner of Yonge and Dundas in 2005. That is why the Metropolis building will blast 20,000 square feet worth of digital signs at little Dundas Square. Those pedestrian eyeballs mean money to advertisers. Combined, signage around the square will top 40,000 square feet.

Some critics complain about the abundance of signs. They say that public spaces paid for by our tax dollars are no place for advertisements. It is a good argument. I am not sure it holds true here though. The square is helping to attract millions of people to Toronto’s core. The traffic keeps streets active and improves the public realm, not only at this intersection but up and down Yonge Street.

They designed Dundas Square to take the traffic the spectacle of all those signs generates. When first built, many said that the square was too, well, hard. Where were all the green trees that parks should have? Now we know. Public squares have to be rough and ready. The wear of 100,000 feet a day in a small space like this one makes even concrete a temporary material. The square uses granite as its surface of choice.

Go for a visit. Early morning is nice. Watch people enjoy this small but critical opening in the city’s fabric. Even as the signs loom their messages above you, thank the designers for improving Toronto’s streetscape. They make a difference.

A version of this story is also published in today's National Post

2. "Some critics complain about the abundance of signs. They say that public spaces paid for by our tax dollars are no place for advertisements. It is a good argument. I am not sure it holds true here though. The square is helping to attract millions of people to Toronto’s core." I don't think I understand your argument here - are you saying that it's the *advertising* that draws people to the square? That advertising for international brands is a draw that, say, Toronto-specific public art wouldn't? Or open skies with skyline views? You've noted that Dundas Square is successful in some ways - but you haven't demonstrated that the advertising has anything to do with it. Interested to hear your response
   
   Posted by alison  on  {comment_date format=’%m/%d’}  at  {comment_date format=’%h:%i %A’}
Posted by alison  on  08/25  at  12:01 PM

3. Thanks for you post Alison. I’ve talked with a number of people about this topic over the years including your editor as well as my favourite public space advocate, David Meslin. I’m not enthusiastic about advertisements overtaking the public realm. In fact, as a designer, I’m down right against it—where it does not make sense or does not add to the overall experience of the space. In the case of Dundas Square, as the article tries to express in the 700 words I’m alloted, the overall benefits are tangible. But, I’d definitely like to see artists of all types given access to the signs. Can you imagine if artists had the opportunity to take over all the digital signs facing the square at various times during the summer. That could be truly spectacular in a culturally significant way. AGO, are you listening?

   Posted by  on  08/25  at  12:19 PM

4. Having come to the city sporadically over a ten-year period, and now after living here for about seven, my memory of what was at the corner before is fragile at best. Yet, when Dundas Square was finally revealed, of the several design flaws I saw/felt, one jumped out at me. It is the same mistake seen at Nathan Phillips Square(oh I’m sorry, I forgot it was forbidden to critize Nathan Phillips) – that hard, massive concrete Northern edge. Large, heavy, sparse columns that make a small space even less approachable. No matter though, Torontonians have become so accumstomed to such massive heaps of Portland cement that they hardly notice them, and, like most people, will adapt and bend the space to their own activity. Personally, I’ll never warm up to Dundas Square, the same way that when I walk beneath the Gardiner to access Harbourfront I pick up my pace. Maybe time heals all wounds, and maybe time allows for people to take over a place the way creeping ivy takes over a wall, but for me, the corner of Dundas and Yonge will always be as uninviting as a pot-holed filled parking lot. With apologies to the design team who, no doubt, had to fight a doggedly relentless bureaucracy at every step.

   Posted by Peter  on  08/25  at  12:22 PM

5. I like Dundas Square a lot, it’s just that I don’t like Yonge Street or the shopping mall formerly known as “Eaton” very much. As a resident of the city why would I go to Dundas & Yonge more than once or twice a year, just like why would I go to Nathan Philips? At NP I can skate for a few minutes and feel like I am part of the city. At Dundas I can watch the inground fountains soak my kids and laught but Dundas is not a destination while NP is. I still like Dundas and think it is a brave move and anything different is a very easy target for critics. Pick any corner of this city and tell me why it’s worthy and why I should spend time there.

   Posted by  on  08/25  at  10:48 PM

6. I like DS also. I worked in the area and have been going to DS over the years during lunch and after work. I enjoyed people watching and observed that most people who visited DS also seemed to like it. DS works for its demographics, pre teens, teens, early adults, young families and tourists.

   Things that I like to see DS has:

   – a permanent cafe – some more mature trees as shade, as it can get very hot in mid summer day, I think the trees there dont seemed to grow well or lacked care/maintenance – some memmorable public art (may be some shiny Kapoor) – more creative/artistic/architural subway entrance (the handrail on the subway entrance in DS already start to turn green; and the north of Dundas subway entrance is pathetic for a big city) – turn DS to some night market (like those Asian night market)
   Posted by  on  08/26  at  06:53 AM

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