Let $E$ be a Banach space, $X\_1, X\_2, \ldots $ be a numerable collection of 
finite dimensional subspaces $X\_1\subset X\_2$ with dimension 
tending to infinity, denote by $S^n$ the unit sphere in $X\_n$ .
Denote by $X$ the union of the $S^n$ and let Y be the 
completion of the union $\cup X\_n$ in the ambient norm in E.


Is there a (weak?) retraction, homotopy equivalence or domination  

between X and the unitary sphere in $Y$?
Notice that $Y$ is not a CW complex. 



Homotopy of Unitary  sphere  in a  Banach space and finite dimensional  spheres   
Well, it is well-known that both of $X$ and $Y$ are contractible (hence they are homotopy equivalent, this should answer your question). Notice that $Y$ is exactly the set of unit vectors of $E$.


To see that $X$ is contractible consider the map $H : X \times [0, 1] \to X$ defined by $$H((x\_1, \dots, x\_n, 0,\dots), t) = {(t, (1-t) x)\over \text{Norm(t, (1-t) x)}},$$ which is a homotopy between $\text{id}\_X$ and a constant (a basis of $\bigcup\_i X\_i$ is understood).


To see that $Y$ is contractible, let's show that in fact $Y$ is homeomorphic to $E$. This can be addressed by considering the map $f: E \to E \oplus \Bbb R$ defined by $$f(x) = {(x, \|x\| - 1)\over \text{Norm}(x, \|x\| - 1)}.$$ This map gives a homeomorphism between $E$ and the unit sphere of $E \oplus \Bbb R$, which in turn should be homeomorphic to $Y$.


