Dundas Square
Encyclopedia
Yonge-Dundas Square is a commercial junction
and public square
, situated at the southeast corner of the intersection
of Yonge Street
and Dundas Street East
in Downtown Toronto
. The square was first conceived by the City of Toronto in 1998 as part of revitalizing the intersection, and was designed by Brown and Storey Architects. Since its completion in 2002, the square has hosted numerous public events, performances and art displays, establishing itself as a prominent landmark
in Toronto
and one of the city's prime tourist attractions. Central to the Downtown Yonge business improvement area, the square is owned by the city and is the first public square in Canada to be maintained through a public-private partnership
. The intersection is one of the busiest in Canada, serving over 100,000 pedestrians daily.
Surrounding the square are other major landmarks, including the Toronto Eaton Centre
, 10 Dundas Street East, 33 Dundas Street East, Ryerson University
, the Canon Theatre
and Canada's largest media tower. The intersection is served by the Yonge-University-Spadina line of the Toronto Subway
via Dundas
station, connected to the PATH
, and contains the city's first pedestrian scramble
. The square is continuously illuminated by several corporate and brand-name logos in neon and electric signs and large liquid-crystal display (LCD) and light-emitting diode
(LED) screens, which often display advertisments. Because of this, critics have drawn references to Yonge-Dundas Square as "Toronto's Times Square
".
, was constructed by connecting pre-existing streets. From the west, Agnes Street intersected at Yonge Street at the present Dundas Street intersection, but did not continue east. From the east, Wilton Street connected to Yonge Street approximately 100 metres to the south. In the 20th century, Dundas Street was extended east from the Agnes Street intersection to meet with Wilton Street at Victoria Street, by building a curved road east, then southeast, to intersect with Wilton. Wilton was renamed Dundas Street East, and the section of Wilton west of Victoria Street was renamed Dundas Square. Stores south of the new Dundas intersection, not in the way of the roadway, remained.
In 1998, as part of its Yonge Street Regeneration Project, Toronto City Council
approved the expropriation
and demolition of the buildings on the site and the construction of Yonge-Dundas Square. The square is a joint project of the city, residents, the McGill Granby Association, the Downtown Yonge Business and Resident Association, and the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area, an association of local businesses. This effort was spearheaded by Councillor Kyle Rae
, Robert Sniderman of the Senator Restaurant, and Arron Barberian of Barberian's Steak House
. In late 2007, the 10 Dundas East (formerly Metropolis and Toronto Life Square) entertainment complex opened across the street from the square.
Designed by Brown + Storey Architects
, the square was intended as a new public space
in Toronto, somewhat akin to Nathan Phillips Square
, designed by Viljo Revell
for New City Hall
. Unlike Nathan Phillips Square, however, Yonge-Dundas Square is operated as a commercial venture, with a separate Board of Management
. The site is owned by the City and administered by a Board of Management. The board of management for Yonge-Dundas Square was established in 2001, and is the first public–private partnership in Canada to operate a public square.
Some claim that the intersection is the busiest in Canada, with over 56 million people passing through annually. It is sometimes nicknamed Toronto's Times Square
, as development is cited as modelling New York's Times Square
, Tokyo's Shibuya
district, and London's Piccadilly Circus
. To ease traffic, a pedestrian scramble
has been installed.
The square is on a slight incline, which architects Brown and Storey have said was intended to evoke a theatrical stage. It is made with modular raised square textured 35.125 by granite
slabs (each slab costing approximately $1,500: $1,000 materials plus $500 labour), features a diagonally running zinc
canopy along the northern hypotenuse of the "square", a movable plinth
which serves as a stage for concerts and other performances, a row of lighted fountains set directly into the pavement, a row of small trees along the southern edge, a transparent canopy over the plinth, and a new entrance to Dundas subway station
below. A series of low, circular stone planters was added to the western side of the square in summer 2005.
Because Dundas Street bends at the square, it is not actually a square, but an irregular pentagon. This angled northeastern side of the square is known as the hypotenuse, which features a structure supported by 11 concrete pillars of the type used to make overpasses on highways. This creates an industrial urban aesthetic, which, being to the north, casts no shadows on the rest of the space. The other three sides are square (i.e., at right angles to one another and to Yonge Street and Dundas Street West). As well, there is a road which traverses the square known as Dundas Square. This is a small street leading from Yonge Street to Dundas Street.
The surface of Yonge-Dundas Square is not level, because it is sloped upward away from Yonge Street. This is to allow sufficient height to provide clearance for the Toronto Parking Authority
garage entrance. The architects planned the slope of the surface to make it interesting and to accommodate the necessary clearances for what lies underneath. Level P1 houses the washroom
s/changeroom
s, a green room
for stage performers, and various utilities rooms, custodial, and supply closets, as well as the water treatment
plant and pump rooms for the fountains.
The centrepiece of the square is the array of fountains designed by Dan Euser
of Waterarchitecture. Two rows of 10 fountains are spread out across the square's main walkway, so that visitors have the opportunity to walk through or around the fountains. Unlike many other city fountains, the Dundas Square fountains were meant for waterplay, and include a sophisticated filtration system that (according to both of the architects) keep the water at or above "pool quality" water. According to Euser, the water is treated to maintain health standards for waterplay. According to facility administrator Christine MacLean, the slate that was chosen for the entire space has non-slip properties for the safety of those running through or playing in the fountains. Each of the 10 water fountains consists of a stainless steel
grille with 30 ground nozzle
s (arranged in three rows of 10) under it.
The entire rock surface is of a very dark (almost black) colour and effectively absorbs sunlight, thus creating a warm surface to rest on. The water runs under the dark rock slabs and is thus heated by them, so that the fountain water is solar heated. Three curved lighting masts along the south edge of the urbeach, made of hollow structural steel, have a high-gloss white finish that contrasts with the rough non-slip texture of the black granite, and each support six mercury vapour arc lamp
s that create evening light that comes from approximately the same directions as natural sunlight does during the day (i.e., from various southerly directions).
Yonge-Dundas Square is located within the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area
(BIA). Former councillor Kyle Rae
has pointed to Times Square
in New York City
as a model to emulate, with its canyon of billboards and animated advertising screens.
Other projects in the area include the redevelopment of the Eaton Centre
, the construction of a new retail and cinema
complex to the north, called 10 Dundas East (formerly Toronto Life Square and before that known as "Metropolis"), and the construction of 33 Dundas Street East to the southeast (on the corner of Victoria and Dundas), formerly the home of Olympic Spirit Toronto
. On October 22, 2007, Rogers Media
announced that it would buy this building as a new home for its Citytv
and Omni Television
stations. This new studio space is now operational.
A "media tower" – essentially a scaffold for billboards, operated by Clear Channel Communications
– has been constructed on the northwest corner of Yonge and Dundas. It is considered to be the tallest media tower in the world. Another large media tower, complete with a video screen, is a major feature of the Rogers Media building on the southeast corner of Dundas Square; the video screen usually shows the current CITY-TV broadcast. The building that is home to the Hard Rock Cafe
on the southwest corner of the square also features a series of billboards and a large video screen. The introduction of these imposing media towers and their brightly illuminated advertising billboards has been too great a sacrifice for some area residents, who feel a loss of the neighbourhood's identity and character (see "Controversy", below).
The redevelopment of the Eaton Centre and the building at Victoria and Dundas were both completed in 2004. Toronto Life Square, formerly known as the Metropolis development, began in January 1999 after the City of Toronto expropriated a number of properties, and a phased opening began in 2007.
The fountains comprise a dynamic art installation
and water sculpture in which the 600 water jets are programmed to vary, dynamically, over time. The fountains generally run 24 hours a day. Other than the aquatic play area in front of the Ontario Science Centre
(the centrepiece of Teluscape), Dundas Square is Toronto's only 24-hour waterplay area, open all day and night except during special events, maintenance, and other exceptions. The fountains usually run from around mid-April to the end of October, making this one of two aquatic play areas in Toronto that opens very early in the season and closes very late in the season.
Due to cost limitations, only the middle channel (i.e., the middle 10 nozzles of each fountain) can be animated, but the outside two channels can still be globally controlled. The outside two channels are often used to set a background (pedestal) level while the middle channel animates, typically with a period of eight seconds. The directionality imposed by the middle channel's sequencer encourages bathers to run west rather than east. Moreover, the sequencer makes the bathing experience optimal for joggers who run west at exactly 20 km/h.
Architects Brown and Storey, the creator of the fountains (Dan Euser), the firm that initiated the bidding, former Councillor Kyle Rae, and the management of Dundas Square have all confirmed that waterplay was one of the intended uses of the space. The fountains are intended to appeal to children and adults alike, and there is evidence that this intention has been realized.
At the southeast and southwest corners of Yonge-Dundas Square are drinking water fountains. The water fountain
on the southwest corner (nearest to Yonge Street) is known for its large, cool stream of water that flows down the fountain to drains in the ground. The stream produced by the other fountain is warmer and flows less copiously. On the other hand, the fountain nearest Yonge street is also near a protrusion in the ground that people like to sit on.
Because many people drink from the ground spray nozzles (some people even fill up water bottle
s from the ground sprays), and since waterplay is one of the intended uses, the water is tested every morning, between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., by the health department
. The water is treated with bromine
, which many bathers prefer to chlorine
. There are three separate water treatment facilities, one for each group of 10 westmost nozzles in each grille (200 nozzles total), another for the middle row of 10 in each grille, and a third for all of the eastmost nozzles. The water that runs into the grilles travels west, under the raised floor
of the Dundas Square slabs, to the treatment facility under the west end of the waterplay area.
within the downtown core (or that they have missed an opportunity for what some critics consider more interesting architectural elements) to questions of what the true intent behind the ostensibly public square is. The Toronto Public Space Committee
and organizers of Toronto iterations of the Reclaim The Streets
phenomenon often point to the square as an example of what they consider a negative trend in urban planning.
The square is surrounded on all sides by gigantic commercial billboards in a redevelopment scheme modelled on New York City
's Times Square
or London
's Piccadilly Circus
. Many have pointed to the square as a prime example of the creeping privatization
of public space
. Those making this point have been bolstered by the fact that the square's board is populated by both local businesses and residents. The Board of Management for the Square is an ABC organization of the City of Toronto. While there are permit fees for commercial events, community groups can use the Square for free under the Square's Community Use Policy. All events are charged back for staffing and equipment use.
Junction (road)
A road junction is a location where vehicular traffic going in different directions can proceed in a controlled manner designed to minimize accidents. In some cases, vehicles can change between different routes or directions of travel.-Origins:...
and public square
Public Square
Public Square is the central plaza in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It takes up four city blocks; Superior Avenue and Ontario Street cross through it. Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, 200 Public Square and the Terminal Tower, face the square...
, situated at the southeast corner of the intersection
Intersection (road)
An intersection is a road junction where two or more roads either meet or cross at grade . An intersection may be 3-way - a T junction or fork, 4-way - a crossroads, or 5-way or more...
of Yonge Street
Yonge Street
Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...
and Dundas Street East
Dundas Street (Toronto)
Dundas Street, also known as Highway 5 west of Toronto, is a major arterial road connecting the centre of that city with its western suburbs and southwestern Ontario beyond...
in Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately bounded by Bloor Street to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don River to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west...
. The square was first conceived by the City of Toronto in 1998 as part of revitalizing the intersection, and was designed by Brown and Storey Architects. Since its completion in 2002, the square has hosted numerous public events, performances and art displays, establishing itself as a prominent landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and one of the city's prime tourist attractions. Central to the Downtown Yonge business improvement area, the square is owned by the city and is the first public square in Canada to be maintained through a public-private partnership
Public-private partnership
Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
. The intersection is one of the busiest in Canada, serving over 100,000 pedestrians daily.
Surrounding the square are other major landmarks, including the Toronto Eaton Centre
Toronto Eaton Centre
The Toronto Eaton Centre is a large shopping mall and office complex in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, named after the now-defunct Eaton's department store chain that once anchored it. In terms of the number of visitors, the shopping mall is Toronto's top tourist attraction, with around one...
, 10 Dundas Street East, 33 Dundas Street East, Ryerson University
Ryerson University
Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...
, the Canon Theatre
Canon Theatre
-History:The Canon Theatre began as the Pantages Theatre in 1920 as a combination vaudeville and motion picture house. Designed by the great theatre architect Thomas W. Lamb, it was the largest cinema in Canada and one of the most elegant.The Pantages was built by the Canadian motion picture...
and Canada's largest media tower. The intersection is served by the Yonge-University-Spadina line of the Toronto Subway
Toronto subway and RT
The Toronto subway and RT is a rapid transit system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, consisting of both underground and elevated railway lines, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission . It was Canada's first completed subway system, with the first line being built under Yonge Street, which opened in...
via Dundas
Dundas (TTC)
Dundas is a station of the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 300 Yonge Street at Dundas Street West/East....
station, connected to the PATH
PATH (Toronto)
PATH is a network of pedestrian tunnels beneath the office towers of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex in the world with 371,600 m² PATH is a network of pedestrian tunnels beneath the office towers of Downtown...
, and contains the city's first pedestrian scramble
Pedestrian scramble
A pedestrian scramble, also known as a 'X' Crossing , diagonal crossing , scramble intersection , and more poetically Barnes Dance, is a pedestrian crossing system that stops all vehicular traffic and allows pedestrians to cross an intersection in every direction, including diagonally, at the same...
. The square is continuously illuminated by several corporate and brand-name logos in neon and electric signs and large liquid-crystal display (LCD) and light-emitting diode
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
(LED) screens, which often display advertisments. Because of this, critics have drawn references to Yonge-Dundas Square as "Toronto's Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
".
History
The site is bordered on the north by Dundas Street, on the east by Victoria Street, and on the west by Yonge Street. A former street named Dundas Square (previously Wilton Street) forms the southern boundary. Dundas Street, an east–west street through Downtown TorontoDowntown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately bounded by Bloor Street to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don River to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west...
, was constructed by connecting pre-existing streets. From the west, Agnes Street intersected at Yonge Street at the present Dundas Street intersection, but did not continue east. From the east, Wilton Street connected to Yonge Street approximately 100 metres to the south. In the 20th century, Dundas Street was extended east from the Agnes Street intersection to meet with Wilton Street at Victoria Street, by building a curved road east, then southeast, to intersect with Wilton. Wilton was renamed Dundas Street East, and the section of Wilton west of Victoria Street was renamed Dundas Square. Stores south of the new Dundas intersection, not in the way of the roadway, remained.
In 1998, as part of its Yonge Street Regeneration Project, Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council
The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors....
approved the expropriation
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
and demolition of the buildings on the site and the construction of Yonge-Dundas Square. The square is a joint project of the city, residents, the McGill Granby Association, the Downtown Yonge Business and Resident Association, and the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area, an association of local businesses. This effort was spearheaded by Councillor Kyle Rae
Kyle Rae
Kyle Rae is a former Canadian politician. He was a city councillor for Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale in Toronto, Ontario from 1991 to 2010. Rae is now a self-described consultant.-Politics:...
, Robert Sniderman of the Senator Restaurant, and Arron Barberian of Barberian's Steak House
Steakhouse
A steakhouse is a restaurant that specializes in beef steaks. The same type of restaurant is also known as a chophouse.The steakhouse started in the USA in the late 19th century as a development of traditional inns and bars....
. In late 2007, the 10 Dundas East (formerly Metropolis and Toronto Life Square) entertainment complex opened across the street from the square.
Designed by Brown + Storey Architects
Brown + Storey Architects
Brown and Storey Architects is a Canadian architecture practice based in Toronto, Ontario. Set up in 1981 by James Brown and Kim Storey –daughter of architect Joseph Storey– the office is made up of multi-disciplinary professionals –urban designers, architects, landscape designers, technologists...
, the square was intended as a new public space
Public space
A public space is a social space such as a town square that is open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants...
in Toronto, somewhat akin to Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square is an urban plaza that forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and named for Nathan Phillips, mayor of Toronto from 1955 to 1962. The square opened in 1965, and, as with the City Hall, the square was...
, designed by Viljo Revell
Viljo Revell
Viljo Revell was a Finnish architect of the functionalist school. Internationally Revell is best known for designing the Toronto City Hall....
for New City Hall
Toronto City Hall
The City Hall of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is the home of the city's municipal government and one of its most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell and landscape architect Richard Strong, and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in 1965...
. Unlike Nathan Phillips Square, however, Yonge-Dundas Square is operated as a commercial venture, with a separate Board of Management
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
. The site is owned by the City and administered by a Board of Management. The board of management for Yonge-Dundas Square was established in 2001, and is the first public–private partnership in Canada to operate a public square.
Some claim that the intersection is the busiest in Canada, with over 56 million people passing through annually. It is sometimes nicknamed Toronto's Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, as development is cited as modelling New York's Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, Tokyo's Shibuya
Shibuya, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
district, and London's Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...
. To ease traffic, a pedestrian scramble
Pedestrian scramble
A pedestrian scramble, also known as a 'X' Crossing , diagonal crossing , scramble intersection , and more poetically Barnes Dance, is a pedestrian crossing system that stops all vehicular traffic and allows pedestrians to cross an intersection in every direction, including diagonally, at the same...
has been installed.
Architecture
Design and features
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
slabs (each slab costing approximately $1,500: $1,000 materials plus $500 labour), features a diagonally running zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
canopy along the northern hypotenuse of the "square", a movable plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
which serves as a stage for concerts and other performances, a row of lighted fountains set directly into the pavement, a row of small trees along the southern edge, a transparent canopy over the plinth, and a new entrance to Dundas subway station
Dundas (TTC)
Dundas is a station of the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 300 Yonge Street at Dundas Street West/East....
below. A series of low, circular stone planters was added to the western side of the square in summer 2005.
Because Dundas Street bends at the square, it is not actually a square, but an irregular pentagon. This angled northeastern side of the square is known as the hypotenuse, which features a structure supported by 11 concrete pillars of the type used to make overpasses on highways. This creates an industrial urban aesthetic, which, being to the north, casts no shadows on the rest of the space. The other three sides are square (i.e., at right angles to one another and to Yonge Street and Dundas Street West). As well, there is a road which traverses the square known as Dundas Square. This is a small street leading from Yonge Street to Dundas Street.
Toronto Parking Authority
The Toronto Parking Authority is a public corporation owned by the City of Toronto.TPA was established in 1998 with the merger of parking operations in the cities of Toronto, York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York and the Borough of York...
garage entrance. The architects planned the slope of the surface to make it interesting and to accommodate the necessary clearances for what lies underneath. Level P1 houses the washroom
Washroom
A public toilet is a room or small building containing one or more toilets and possibly also urinals which is available for use by the general public, or in a broader meaning of "public", by customers of other...
s/changeroom
Changeroom
A changing room, locker room, dressing room or changeroom is a room or area designated for changing one's clothes...
s, a green room
Green room
In British English and American English show business lexicon, the green room is that space in a theatre, a studio, or a similar venue, which accommodates performers or speakers not yet required on stage...
for stage performers, and various utilities rooms, custodial, and supply closets, as well as the water treatment
Water treatment
Water treatment describes those processes used to make water more acceptable for a desired end-use. These can include use as drinking water, industrial processes, medical and many other uses. The goal of all water treatment process is to remove existing contaminants in the water, or reduce the...
plant and pump rooms for the fountains.
The centrepiece of the square is the array of fountains designed by Dan Euser
Dan Euser
Dan Euser is a Canadian artist, sculptor, designer, and landscape architect specializing in water features. His works include various dynamic water sculptures for landmark architectural installations.-Most famous works of art:...
of Waterarchitecture. Two rows of 10 fountains are spread out across the square's main walkway, so that visitors have the opportunity to walk through or around the fountains. Unlike many other city fountains, the Dundas Square fountains were meant for waterplay, and include a sophisticated filtration system that (according to both of the architects) keep the water at or above "pool quality" water. According to Euser, the water is treated to maintain health standards for waterplay. According to facility administrator Christine MacLean, the slate that was chosen for the entire space has non-slip properties for the safety of those running through or playing in the fountains. Each of the 10 water fountains consists of a stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
grille with 30 ground nozzle
Ground nozzle
A ground nozzle is a spray nozzle made for being installed at grade level , usually in cement, crumb rubber, rubberized cement, or a similar nonslip surface, or under a grille or similar opening that is flush with ground level....
s (arranged in three rows of 10) under it.
The entire rock surface is of a very dark (almost black) colour and effectively absorbs sunlight, thus creating a warm surface to rest on. The water runs under the dark rock slabs and is thus heated by them, so that the fountain water is solar heated. Three curved lighting masts along the south edge of the urbeach, made of hollow structural steel, have a high-gloss white finish that contrasts with the rough non-slip texture of the black granite, and each support six mercury vapour arc lamp
Arc lamp
"Arc lamp" or "arc light" is the general term for a class of lamps that produce light by an electric arc . The lamp consists of two electrodes, first made from carbon but typically made today of tungsten, which are separated by a gas...
s that create evening light that comes from approximately the same directions as natural sunlight does during the day (i.e., from various southerly directions).
Surrounding buildings
Business improvement district
A business improvement district is a defined area within which businesses pay an additional tax or fee in order to fund improvements within the district's boundaries. Grant funds acquired by the city for special programs and/or incentives such as tax abatements can be made available to assist...
(BIA). Former councillor Kyle Rae
Kyle Rae
Kyle Rae is a former Canadian politician. He was a city councillor for Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale in Toronto, Ontario from 1991 to 2010. Rae is now a self-described consultant.-Politics:...
has pointed to Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as a model to emulate, with its canyon of billboards and animated advertising screens.
Other projects in the area include the redevelopment of the Eaton Centre
Toronto Eaton Centre
The Toronto Eaton Centre is a large shopping mall and office complex in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, named after the now-defunct Eaton's department store chain that once anchored it. In terms of the number of visitors, the shopping mall is Toronto's top tourist attraction, with around one...
, the construction of a new retail and cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
complex to the north, called 10 Dundas East (formerly Toronto Life Square and before that known as "Metropolis"), and the construction of 33 Dundas Street East to the southeast (on the corner of Victoria and Dundas), formerly the home of Olympic Spirit Toronto
Olympic Spirit Toronto
33 Dundas Street East is a studio complex located in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was acquired by Rogers Media in 2007 as the new home of its four Toronto television stations: CITY-TV , CFMT-TV , CJMT-TV and CityNews Channel...
. On October 22, 2007, Rogers Media
Rogers Media
Rogers Media Inc is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., which owns Canada's largest publishing company, Rogers Publishing Limited, which has more than 70 consumer and business publications. Rogers Media Inc...
announced that it would buy this building as a new home for its Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
and Omni Television
OMNI Television
Omni Television, corporately styled as OMNI Television, is a Canadian television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications. It consists of the company's conventional television stations in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta which are licensed as multicultural stations...
stations. This new studio space is now operational.
A "media tower" – essentially a scaffold for billboards, operated by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
– has been constructed on the northwest corner of Yonge and Dundas. It is considered to be the tallest media tower in the world. Another large media tower, complete with a video screen, is a major feature of the Rogers Media building on the southeast corner of Dundas Square; the video screen usually shows the current CITY-TV broadcast. The building that is home to the Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
on the southwest corner of the square also features a series of billboards and a large video screen. The introduction of these imposing media towers and their brightly illuminated advertising billboards has been too great a sacrifice for some area residents, who feel a loss of the neighbourhood's identity and character (see "Controversy", below).
The redevelopment of the Eaton Centre and the building at Victoria and Dundas were both completed in 2004. Toronto Life Square, formerly known as the Metropolis development, began in January 1999 after the City of Toronto expropriated a number of properties, and a phased opening began in 2007.
Fountains
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
and water sculpture in which the 600 water jets are programmed to vary, dynamically, over time. The fountains generally run 24 hours a day. Other than the aquatic play area in front of the Ontario Science Centre
Ontario Science Centre
Ontario Science Centre is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of Eglinton Avenue East...
(the centrepiece of Teluscape), Dundas Square is Toronto's only 24-hour waterplay area, open all day and night except during special events, maintenance, and other exceptions. The fountains usually run from around mid-April to the end of October, making this one of two aquatic play areas in Toronto that opens very early in the season and closes very late in the season.
Due to cost limitations, only the middle channel (i.e., the middle 10 nozzles of each fountain) can be animated, but the outside two channels can still be globally controlled. The outside two channels are often used to set a background (pedestal) level while the middle channel animates, typically with a period of eight seconds. The directionality imposed by the middle channel's sequencer encourages bathers to run west rather than east. Moreover, the sequencer makes the bathing experience optimal for joggers who run west at exactly 20 km/h.
Architects Brown and Storey, the creator of the fountains (Dan Euser), the firm that initiated the bidding, former Councillor Kyle Rae, and the management of Dundas Square have all confirmed that waterplay was one of the intended uses of the space. The fountains are intended to appeal to children and adults alike, and there is evidence that this intention has been realized.
At the southeast and southwest corners of Yonge-Dundas Square are drinking water fountains. The water fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
on the southwest corner (nearest to Yonge Street) is known for its large, cool stream of water that flows down the fountain to drains in the ground. The stream produced by the other fountain is warmer and flows less copiously. On the other hand, the fountain nearest Yonge street is also near a protrusion in the ground that people like to sit on.
Because many people drink from the ground spray nozzles (some people even fill up water bottle
Water bottle
A water bottle is a container used to hold water for consumption. This allows an individual to transport or carry the bottled water from one place to another. A water bottle is usually made of plastic, glass, or metal, and so most can be recycled. Water bottles can be single use, returnable, or...
s from the ground sprays), and since waterplay is one of the intended uses, the water is tested every morning, between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., by the health department
Health department
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their own...
. The water is treated with bromine
Bromine
Bromine ") is a chemical element with the symbol Br, an atomic number of 35, and an atomic mass of 79.904. It is in the halogen element group. The element was isolated independently by two chemists, Carl Jacob Löwig and Antoine Jerome Balard, in 1825–1826...
, which many bathers prefer to chlorine
Chlorine
Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...
. There are three separate water treatment facilities, one for each group of 10 westmost nozzles in each grille (200 nozzles total), another for the middle row of 10 in each grille, and a third for all of the eastmost nozzles. The water that runs into the grilles travels west, under the raised floor
Raised floor
A raised floor or access floor are types of floor that provide an elevated structural floor above a solid substrate to create a hidden void for the passage of mechanical and electrical services...
of the Dundas Square slabs, to the treatment facility under the west end of the waterplay area.
Criticism
Yonge-Dundas Square is controversial in some circles. Criticism ranges from suggestions that the city has missed an opportunity for more green spaceGreen infrastructure
Green Infrastructure is a concept originating in the United States in the mid-1990s that highlights the importance of the natural environment in decisions about land use planning. In particular there is an emphasis on the "life support" functions provided by a network of natural ecosystems, with an...
within the downtown core (or that they have missed an opportunity for what some critics consider more interesting architectural elements) to questions of what the true intent behind the ostensibly public square is. The Toronto Public Space Committee
Toronto Public Space Committee
The Toronto Public Space Committee is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that defends the city’s public space from corporate and private forces, including cars and outdoor advertising...
and organizers of Toronto iterations of the Reclaim The Streets
Reclaim the Streets
Reclaim The Streets is a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterize the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalization, and to the car as the dominant mode of transport.-Protests:Reclaim The...
phenomenon often point to the square as an example of what they consider a negative trend in urban planning.
The square is surrounded on all sides by gigantic commercial billboards in a redevelopment scheme modelled on New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
or London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...
. Many have pointed to the square as a prime example of the creeping privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
of public space
Public space
A public space is a social space such as a town square that is open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants...
. Those making this point have been bolstered by the fact that the square's board is populated by both local businesses and residents. The Board of Management for the Square is an ABC organization of the City of Toronto. While there are permit fees for commercial events, community groups can use the Square for free under the Square's Community Use Policy. All events are charged back for staffing and equipment use.
Accolades
- 1999 Canadian Architect magazine, Award of Excellence for significant building in the design stage: recognized as an outstanding example of contemporary architectureContemporary architectureContemporary architecture is generally speaking the architecture of the present time.The term contemporary architecture is also applied to a range of styles of recently built structures and space which are optimized for current use....
. - 2000 Architecture magazine, Progressive Architecture citation: commended as a new form of urban space with great presence... pushes the limits of invention and originality.
- 2006 Best Wi-FiWi-FiWi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
spot: the hotspotHotspot (Wi-Fi)A hotspot is a site that offers Internet access over a wireless local area network through the use of a router connected to a link to an Internet service provider...
set up by Wireless TorontoWireless TorontoWireless Toronto is a volunteer non-profit community wireless network in Toronto. Wireless Toronto began in 2005 and has been setting up no-cost public wireless Internet access around the Greater Toronto Area and exploring ways to use Wi-Fi technology to strengthen local community and...
is voted the best wi-fi spot in Toronto