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Transformation AGO (5s, Gehry) COMPLETE

Metro:

I actually don't mind the Parkin addition. It is (was) the Barton Myers stuff of the 90's that I found cheap and poorly executed.
Click to expand...

The Parkin addition has been known to be the hallmark of Cheapening (tm) - in fact, I think it's referred to as "Post Office cheap". The mouldy cereal exterior is an example.

AoD
 
jaymckay said:
That is OCAD.

I see the mish-mash more as a visual metaphor of the evolution of the building. Gehry specifically said he wanted to leave the Parkin corners and fans of the Parkin addition love the white cubes for what they represent in art. Gehry gutted the last half-ass renovations, and rightfully so, that part of the AGO history should be forgotten. I really think this is a extremely well thought out re-design. Every major feature seems to have some deeper meaning or historical reference and is not just for aesthetics value (unlike some of Gehry's other work). I've said it before, but I really think this is the most sophisticated Architecture in TO since the new city hall was built. I can't believe this is a building that I believed was the worst of the 'big' art galleries anywhere (obviously based on where I've visited); and to think the art collection has transformed just as much. Yay!
Click to expand...

Though I suspect that the Parkin love is less for the exterior form per se than for the contents--esp. the Henry Moore gallery.

And I wouldn't jump so far at the notion that the KPMB part of AGO history should be forgotten--after all, it was Barton Myers' Toronto swan song and all, and for *its* time a reasonably well thought out redesign, no less than Parkin's...
 
Fwew. Looks like we dodged a bullet with what we got for the AGO:

The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008

Serpentine%20Gallery%20Pavilion%202008%20model%20view%201.jpg


Serpentine%20Gallery%20Pavilion%202008%20model%20view%20%202.jpg
 
Hmm. It's just a temporary structure - we could see it disassembled in London at the end of this season and reassembled here in Grange Park in 2009. How would that grab you?!

This Gehry might actually look good assembled in a dense forest location - a pavillion for a Provincial Park or similar - the roof line looks like it would be at home in the trees.

42
 
Just add water and shake!

Or is that shake and add water - as in the case of his MIT work? :p
 
I went by the AGO today. They're installing the wooden "shutters", or brise soleil, behind the glass and between the main support beams of the Galleria Italia.

I'd forgotten these were going in. Not sure if I like them. I think the interior of the Galleria may be complicated enough already.

I was a bit disappointed when an extra layer of rectinlear wooden frames appeared to attach the glass to the main frame of the thing - glass that I'd assumed would be bent and curved to match the the curved beams of the Galleria. But - no big deal. Now these are an extra element of busyness, which I think might be ruining or dulling the glassine effect of the Galleria. But maybe "glassy on the inside" was not what Gehry is going for. Or is it part of The Cheapening?


Brise Soleil shutters visible in the video flythrough:
galleria.jpg
 
I went by last week when they had installed the brise-soliel in one sector - I thought it looked fine and gave the atrium a bit more texture.

Adding things, however cheap, can never be Cheapening...

AoD
 
The framing for the shutters has also been installed for some of the windows overlooking Grange Park. It's a shame because it obstructs an otherwise fantastic view, but I suppose it's a necessity for environmental control and to protect the art and all of that.

Thinner shutters might have been better, since they would've been less obtrusive when open, but I guess the heavier ones were what the architect called for

edit: And incidentally, I'm curious as to whether the shutters in the Galleria were an engineering solution or an architectural solution. Most of The Galleria never really sees direct sunlight, being on the North side, and being in the shadow of the new tower.
 
Peeking at the webcam today - looks like the scaffolding is coming down from concealing the Walker Court spiral staircase.

agooo-1.jpg


stair.jpg


Also, work has begun in earnest in setting up the westernmost 'flippy-doo' end of the Dundas street Galleria.
 
AGO and OCAD definitely go together. There should be a third institution in the area with a unique building to make a triad :)
 
^ yeah: all the way to the smaller boxes on the AGO. A small box with the same proportions sits on top of OCAD:

2479218940_46daec6ac1_b.jpg


Once AGO's blue cladding is installed, the playful multicolored signature of the area started by OCAD's "crayon stilts" is going to be extended.

P.S. What is that bowl like structure on the far left, vertical centre of the picture?
 
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