Yorkdale Subway Station
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Designed 1974
The Yorkdale project is one of eight rapid transit stations on the Spadina Rapid Transit System, a 10-kilometre line
completed in 1977. It is a multi-leveled concrete and steel structure. There is an enclosed pedestrian bridge incorporated
into the existing bridge structure, which supports the train tracks crossing the street below.
Located in the median of a major expressway, the main structure consists of a 500-foot long central platform covered by a
600-foot semi-circular skylight. The platform level was constructed with precut concrete panels in an inverted 'v' position,
punched out for windows at the height of the train cars. The panels are clad in stainless steel for protection against salt
spray from passenger cars in winter.
A spectacular display of rainbow colours is produced by neon tubes in the skylight - an electronic sculpture called "Arc en
Ciel" by artist Micheal Hayden. The colours start with deep blue at one apse and graduate through the spectrum to red at
the centre, returning to blue at the other apse. A computerized controller scrambles patterns so that at one instant colour
sweeps from one end to the other, or it pulses in segments, or it spurts sporadically, and on and on. When a train is about to
enter the station, movement of light stops and all tubes are lit. When a train is about to enter the station, movement of
light stops and all tubes are lit. Once the train is in the station, the rhythms start once again.