Toronto AGO: Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery | 48.35m | 6s | AGO | Diamond Schmitt

We may have fundamentally different ideas of what constitutes vibrancy. I'd rattle off places like St. Lawrence, Kensington, Little Italy, the Annex, Trinity-Bellwoods, the Danforth, and Leslieville as vibrant neighbourhoods. Many of those are wealthier parts of the city, but I don't think of them as exclusive enclaves in the way that Leaside or Rosedale or Forest Hill are. They tend to have affordable housing, family friendly amenities, access to transit, small-grain retail, greenspace. All of the stuff you'd want in a neighbourhood.

As a city we've got a mixed track record of cultivating vibrant neighbourhoods. I'd say we won in places like Canary Commons and Regent Park, and we lost in places like Liberty Village and King West. It's a lot harder to build a vibrant community from scratch than it is to nurture what's already there.

Straight conservation isn't the answer, but neither is change for the sake of change. If Ceta's advocacy was able to get the AGO to address some community concerns and make the neighbourhood a better place for the people who live there than I'd hardly call her behaviour problematic. Is NIMBYism a problem in other parts of the city, with respect to other developments? Sure. But I don't think this falls into that category. Just look at the history. The AGO got its expansion, and Grange Park got a major upgrade. OCADU got the extra floorspace, and the city gained a landmark building. Village by the Grange is looking a little dowdy these days, but it's still a great little hub of retail, food, residences, and community space. Dundas/McCaul would be a far less interesting part of the city without the efforts of people like Ceta.
 
Village by the Grange is looking a little dowdy these days, but it's still a great little hub of retail, food, residences, and community space. Dundas/McCaul would be a far less interesting part of the city without the efforts of people like Ceta.
The issue is — now — that Ceta is upset about an AGO expansion again, as if that's a serious issue for this neighbourhood. What possible harm could befall the area from another tower about the height of the existing Gehry tower just to the east of it?

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I echo the sentiments about sticking an AGO satellite in the eastern waterfront, it just feels like it would be a good mirror to the “Two Kings” approach wherein we bookend Queens Quay with arts institutions (Harbourfront Centre at the other end). Isn’t part of the Thomson collection a bunch of intricate boat models? Waterfront themed AGO? The Mirvish’s already secretly store their collection in an underground bunker in the Portlands right? (See Toronto Life article). Maybe AGO could team with TIFF & NFB and do something with Canadian cinema, what with all the film studio development in the Portland area.

Arguably- they could do something fascinating with the Hearn. $60mil to turn it into an AGO satellite that covers Canadian film & theatre, bit of Toronto history AND contemporary art.

It would be a dream to have a big contemporary art museum on the east side - accessible to eastern waterfront / canary & distillery / unilever & portlands.
 
Well, apropos of nothing - I sent Waterfront Toronto a polite but to the point email requesting they get their skates on if they want this $60m AGO Contemporary on the waterfront instead of at the current site. Probably will come to nothing, but public interest always helps things.

If a waterfront AGO Contemporary helps with the AGO's NIMBY problem :)rolleyes:), then even better!
 
…which in English means…

Selldorf Architects, Diamond Schmitt and Two Row Architect selected to lead AGO Global Contemporary design development

AGO plans expansion to house growing collection of global modern and contemporary art
TORONTO — Following a rigorous selection process, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) today announces that it has contracted Selldorf Architects, Diamond Schmitt and Two Row Architect to lead the design phase of AGO Global Contemporary, the museum’s proposed expansion project. Each a recognized leader in the creation of dynamic cultural spaces, the three architects will work as a team to design an expansion that will display the museum’s growing collection of global modern and contemporary art. Annabelle Selldorf, of Selldorf Architects will lead the design, in collaboration with Toronto-based Don Schmitt of Diamond Schmitt and Brian Porter of Six Nations of the Grand River’s Two Row Architect as Indigenous architect.

“A project with global impact requires an international perspective, grounded in this land and this city,” said Stephan Jost, Michael and Sonja Koerner Director, and CEO of the Art Gallery of Ontario. “AGO Global Contemporary is poised to launch the museum as a force in the international art world – and this team will get us there. It’s a group that is unmatched in its experience and caliber, and reflective of AGO’s Global Contemporary vision. Selldorf Architects is a leader in museum design, having recently completed the Luma Arles in France, and currently working on The Frick Collection in New York. Just last year, Two Row Architect’s Fort Severn Resilient Duplex project was awarded the prize for social equity design. And Diamond Schmitt is putting Toronto on the world stage with David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City and the Ryerson Image Centre here at home. I am confident that this team of architects will produce an exceptional expansion for our museum.”

AGO Global Contemporary will increase exhibition space for the museum’s growing modern and contemporary collection, and present the museum with the opportunity to deliver exhibitions and programming that lead global conversations about art. The proposed building will be approximately 50,000 gross square feet for Modern and Contemporary art at the AGO. This will be the seventh expansion that the AGO has undertaken since it was founded in 1900. The most recent was the successful Transformation AGO expansion project, designed by Gehry International Architects, Inc.

A goal of this proposed expansion project is to achieve Net Zero Carbon certification, which if successful, would make the addition one of only a few museum spaces globally to accomplish this. The appointment of an architecture and design team is the first step for the project that will undergo a municipal and public review process and final AGO Board of Trustees approval. A public presentation of a concept is anticipated later this year.
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ABOUT DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS

Diamond Schmitt is a global architecture firm that designs transformative, purpose-driven, and highly sustainable buildings. Delivering innovative architecture that empowers people, communities, and organizations to harness change for the greater public good, Diamond Schmitt employs a collaborative research process to create architecture that is known for exceptional performance and meticulous craftsmanship. Current and recent arts and culture spaces recognized for their versatility of space and striking design include Buddy Holly Hall in Lubbock, the Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, The National Arts Centre and Ingenium Centre in Ottawa, La Maison Symphonique de Montréal, and David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in New York. Diamond Schmitt has offices in New York, Toronto, and Vancouver. dsai.ca

ABOUT SELLDORF ARCHITECTS
Selldorf Architects is a 70-person international architectural design practice founded by Annabelle Selldorf in New York City in 1988. The firm creates public and private spaces that manifest a clear and modern sensibility to enduring impact. Since its inception, the firm’s design ethos has been deeply rooted in the principles of humanism. Selldorf Architects has particular expertise in the needs of art spaces and cultural projects, having completed numerous museums, art foundations and galleries, as well as exhibitions, and artists’ studios. Current and recent clients include The Frick Collection, Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery London, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Luma Arles, the Clark Art Institute, and Neue Galerie New York. In addition, the firm has completed numerous galleries for David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and Gladstone Gallery, among others, and designed exhibitions for the Whitney Museum, High Museum, Corning Museum, Frieze Masters, Gagosian Gallery and Venice Art Biennale. selldorf.com

ABOUT TWO ROW ARCHITECT
Two Row Architect (TRA) operates as a sole proprietorship under the direction of Brian Porter (Oneida Nation) with a main office located on the Six Nations of the Grand River territory and a satellite office located in Toronto. Since its inception in 1992, the firm has focused on providing services to projects for Indigenous clients as well as those that have incorporated Indigenous cultural ideologies and teachings manifested in architectural form.

TRA assists in promoting an architectural approach that realizes the meshing of local traditional knowledge (Indigenous arts/crafts/design) with current building technology. The firm also promotes the creative and environmentally conscious use of building materials.

Over the last thirty years, TRA has worked with the majority of Indigenous Groups and organizations throughout Ontario on multiple projects. TRA has also worked with multiple post-secondary institutions throughout Canada including projects such as The National Centre of Indigenous laws, University of Victoria, and the Indigenous Student Centre at Seneca College’s Newnham Campus, Toronto. TRA’s projects have also extended south of the border with the Allegany Administration Building in Salamanca, New York and the Cultural Center Feasibility Study for the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. tworow.com

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Some teasing on what to expect:


Selldorf Architects, headed by Annabelle Selldorf, will lead the design team for the expansion in collaboration with Toronto firms Diamond Schmitt and Two Row Architect. The project, dubbed AGO Global Contemporary, will consist almost entirely of new gallery space to display contemporary art. The gallery aims to begin construction, if planning approvals are in hand, in 2024.

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What will that look like? Ms. Selldorf would not speculate. However, she said: “I think great architecture leaves a quiet imprint on the visitor’s memory. Not the first thing – hopefully they remember the art that they look at first – but the two go hand in hand.”

Mr. Jost struck a similar note. “It’s going to be a damn good piece of architecture,” he said. “It’s not going to be the loudest building on the skyline, but it’s going to be one of the best.”
 
Not a whole lotta' additional detail, but a design concept is anticipated to be made public later this year:

The appointment of an architecture and design team is the first step for the project that will undergo a municipal and public review process and final AGO Board of Trustees approval. A public presentation of a concept is anticipated later this year.

 
The landscaped seating space at the SW corner of Dundas & McCaul has been blocked off and partially dug up:


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