Transformation AGO (5s, Gehry) COMPLETE

[MetroMan]

I would hate to see those homes go. They may be decrepit now, but who's to blame them? Look at was across from them before!

I get the impression every time I pass by that there's some new café or art gallery opening up.

I'm of the opinion that we should allow these houses to improve on their own as no doubt they will given what has been built across the street now.

The city should certainly do its part by burying the overhead wires, fixing the sidewalks, planting some trees and maybe replacing the light poles with nicer ones. Heck, go for a whole AGO district upgrade including McCaul and Grange Park in the plans.

I'd love to see all these homes become art galleries accessible to lesser known artists with café patios out front in the warmer months.

 

[MetroMan]

I hadn't seen this model:

The last model to be on display had shed the titanium and the signs from the visor. This one has the vinyl ads but not the titanium.

Also, another aspect of this model that reveals that it is recent is that the curling staircase on the front used to be completely encased in a glass section. This one shows the glass atrium reaching only the bottom of the stairs with the rest of the stairs self-enclosed as per the final architectural drawings.

I wonder if they're going to go ahead with it like this.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Why on earth would it be ideal to rip down buildings on the north side of Dundas, or create an open urban square there?

Gehry's building is designed to be seen and enjoyed from the enclosed space on the north side of the street - as a great billowing glass sail that unfolds in an arc against the sky, as you walk along that sidewalk.

Why wreck the effect he has set up?

 

[syn]

I would hate to see those homes go. They may be decrepit now, but who's to blame them? Look at was across from them before!

I get the impression every time I pass by that there's some new café or art gallery opening up.

I'm of the opinion that we should allow these houses to improve on their own as no doubt they will given what has been built across the street now.

The city should certainly do its part by burying the overhead wires, fixing the sidewalks, planting some trees and maybe replacing the light poles with nicer ones. Heck, go for a whole AGO district upgrade including McCaul and Grange Park in the plans.

I'd love to see all these homes become art galleries accessible to lesser known artists with café patios out front in the warmer months.

I agree. The area could be even more special.

I think the diverse area(s) surrounding the gallery are one of the things that will make it uniquely Toronto.

 

[yyzer]

Gehry's building is designed to be seen and enjoyed from the enclosed space on the north side of the street - as a great billowing glass sail that unfolds in an arc against the sky, as you walk along that sidewalk.

I dunno, US...do you think the effect would be lessened if you were 100 feet back? First time I have heard this...

I think the AGO will be a bonafide landmark - and to me, being so close to it while on the Dundas sidewalk, would make it harder to appreciate..whereas sitting or standing in a beautiful plaza, framed by the AGO on the south side, seems ideal....but that's just me thinking out loud!

 

[MetroMan]

I dunno, US...do you think the effect would be lessened if you were 100 feet back? First time I have heard this...

I think the AGO will be a bonafide landmark - and to me, being so close to it while on the Dundas sidewalk, would make it harder to appreciate..whereas sitting or standing in a beautiful plaza, framed by the AGO on the south side, seems ideal....but that's just me thinking out loud!

^ It's not ideal when you're wrecking Victorian homes. Are we forgetting how much everybody cried and regretted the Queen St. fire?

Frank Gehry clearly designed the AGO to be seen from the sides, not straight on. The curvature of the shield when standing on either end of Dundas allows you to view beautiful -- dare I say "artistic" -- billowing forms of glass.

In all my travels, the experience of bumping into a famous landmark has been the most exhilarating. I got goose bumps when I first turned the corner getting out of the London Underground and seeing Piccadilly Circus.

Imagine a tourist on Queen noticing OCAD's checkered pattern and being lured up McCaul. They continue up the street, turn the corner.. and there it is! The Art Gallery of Ontario in a totally unexpected place.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

MetroMan:

Also, another aspect of this model that reveals that it is recent is that the curling staircase on the front used to be completely encased in a glass section. This one shows the glass atrium reaching only the bottom of the stairs with the rest of the stairs self-enclosed as per the final architectural drawings.

That change isn't news - it's been that way for at least a year.

AoD

 

[MetroMan]

^ I'm not talking about those changes. I'm talking about the addition of the sticker ads to the glass.

The removal of the titanium and the self-enclosed stairs + atrium occurred quite a while ago but the stickers were never in any renderings after these changes took place.

I kind of like how the lower glass lip is used in this model as a canvas for the name of the museum.

 

[MetroMan]

Here is a photo of those victorian homes:

They have so much potential I think.

These painted ladies can attest to that much:

The value of that property will skyrocket once Transformation AGO is finished. I'm sure the free market will take care of them.

Investors are probably stumbling over each other right now trying to acquire these properties. Imagine the money that can be made in opening a restaurant with a view straight across to a new Toronto icon. Maybe more with a café. Starbucks is no doubt lusting over such a spot.

 

[MetroMan]

Here's the reason why those homes were left to rot:

... and here's the reason why they're going to be worth so much more:

My gawd, I had forgotten how ugly that thing was....

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Metro:

re: signage on "glass lip"

I think that's an idea recycled from the 2nd iteration of Gehry's design.

AoD

 

[wyliepoon]

I wonder what Frank Gehry would think of the houses across the street from his Toronto landmark? Considering the 'messy' way he redid his own home, he probably doesn't mind them at all, even if they don't look too kept up.

One idea I could think of is to transform those houses across the street into another major art gallery that would feed off of the success of the AGO, much like the Gardiner Museum feeds off the ROM. An Art Gallery of Toronto, perhaps?

As for the block immediately west of the AGO, I think it would be nice to use that stretch of Dundas as a transitional zone between the AGO and Chinatown, a stretch with shops selling Asian art and antiques.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

wylie:

One idea I could think of is to transform those houses across the street into another major art gallery that would feed off of the success of the AGO, much like the Gardiner Museum feeds off the ROM. An Art Gallery of Toronto, perhaps?

AGO was originally Art Museum of Toronto - renamed Art Gallery of Toronto until the province took over in the 60s.

re: buffer with Chinatown

I am not sure how long this current Chinatown is going to last - there is a significant number of stores closed between AGO and Spadina.

AoD

 

[smuncky]

one thing that could be done to enhance the street is to have those above ground wires and poles go underground like there have in many cities. i know you can't do anything about the streetcar wires but the electricity poles get in the way of the view. unfortuently, this isn't the only place where the wires are ruining the view in the city.

 

[mysteryman]

^Luckily for the AGO they are on the north side