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From the Star:
Vital, elegant, magical
The Star's exclusive first look at the revamped Gardiner museum reveals a wonder in glass and stone
The ceramic arts showplace does nothing less than reassert architecture's power to transform the city
Jun. 17, 2006. 08:05 AM
CHRISTOPHER HUME
ARCHITECTURE CRITIC
It's the big projects that get the attention, but often it's the small ones that deserve it. None more so than the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, easily the most compelling, even exhilarating, example of architectural excellence to have appeared in Toronto in some time.
True, all eyes have been focused this week on the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the city's much-anticipated opera house, but where it stumbles, the Gardiner soars.
Designed by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg, the new Gardiner (111 Queen's Park, just south of Bloor St.) is a model of urbanity; it is a building that goes well beyond its function as a repository of art objects to become a vital part of a larger whole — namely the city. This connection informs every aspect of the museum; indeed, it's the subtext of the project. Again and again it reminds us that every act of architecture also represents an act of city building. The new spaces created by KPMB are fully conscious of this; indeed, they celebrate it.
Given what the designers had to start with, their accomplishment is all the more remarkable. The original museum, which opened in 1984, was an apologetic modernist structure set back too far from the sidewalk to be fully engaged, or engaging. It stood two storeys tall and never had much of an impact culturally, architecturally or civically.
Now, completely reworked and enlarged, it stands out through the sheer power of its elegance. Though the budget was extremely tight — $20 million compared to $150 million at the opera house, $250 million at the Royal Ontario Museum — KPMB has worked wonders. From the street, the first thing passersby will notice is the new facade, a series of squares and rectangles each defined by glass and limestone — yes, that's limestone, as in Indiana limestone, a material renowned for its beauty as well as itsdurability. Though there are no expanses of stone, there's enough to allow the Gardiner to hold its own with its more imposing neighbours including the Royal Ontario Museum across the street and the Lillian Massey Building and Annesley Hall next door.
And where before Gardiner and sidewalk were separated by a no-man's land, now there are stairs leading to the front door. On both sides they will be surrounded by gardens. The change is simple yet transformative; it's as if a blank space has been filled in. The lobby, now much enlarged, includes the museum shop, also much enlarged, and a ticket/information desk. Cleaned up, opened up and toned up, it hints at what lies ahead, light-filled rooms memorable as much for their spatial quality as the detail. The new contemporary gallery, which faces south, is compact but not oppressively so. It helps that the south wall is all glass and that the display cases are transparent, almost invisible.
Upstairs, where things have changed the least, the big move is the consolidation of the administrative offices, where the Gardiner's staff of 17 now works. Their wing, which culminates in one of the exterior squares, means that employees once consigned to the nearby Colonnade are now part of the museum.
The big gestures have been made on the third floor, a new space added on top of the original building. The museum's major gallery fills the back of the floor, again full of light entering through two clerestories. Beside that is Jamie Kennedy's new restaurant. It connects to the Terrace Room, a truly spectacular addition, so exquisite and beautifully proportioned it takes your breath away. With its glazed front and outdoor extension, it embraces the landmarks that surround it on three sides. The ROM has never looked better; neither has the Massey Building to the north. These are views we've never seen before; they open up the city and actually incorporate it into the very experience of the museum. The result is magical.
"We wanted our building to draw these other buildings into a conversation," Kuwabara explains. "It occupies a unique location in the city. It's a place where you can gain new knowledge of Toronto, where you can get to know the city. If you were any higher you'd be looking down. It's perfect. I think of it as an agent for our affair with the city."
Kennedy says: "It has a lightness and an elegance I've never experienced before.
"It's luxurious but spare at the same time. It's amazing. What we offer syncs in really well with what the Gardiner's doing."
Alexandra Montgomery, Gardiner executive-director, started at the museum when it opened. Back then she was a shop assistant. She watched silently as founder, the late financier George Gardiner, handed over control of his institution to the ROM. Ceramics are not populist fare and people stayed away in droves.
Gardiner was always more interested in his collection than the building that housed it. In fact, it only got built because his terms were refused when he offered it to the ROM. But audiences, even ceramics audiences, want more than the same old stuff, no matter how special it may be. This expansion gives the museum the space and mechanical means to hold the kind of travelling shows crowds expect.
"We always had to put our permanent collection in storage every time we had a show," says Montgomery, smiling broadly. "Now we have the room we need. I remember filling out that awful SuperBuild (funding) application years ago and now it's all come true. It's really fantastic. We invested in the materials — wood and stone — but they will last and get better with age."
With this project, the power of architecture to transform the city is reasserted. The Gardiner, which reopens on June 23, finally has become the facility it should have been and never was. But more important, Toronto is starting to look like a place that doesn't always have to settle for second best; it can aspire to excellence and though we don't often achieve it, sometimes we do. In this case, we have.
AoD
Vital, elegant, magical
The Star's exclusive first look at the revamped Gardiner museum reveals a wonder in glass and stone
The ceramic arts showplace does nothing less than reassert architecture's power to transform the city
Jun. 17, 2006. 08:05 AM
CHRISTOPHER HUME
ARCHITECTURE CRITIC
It's the big projects that get the attention, but often it's the small ones that deserve it. None more so than the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, easily the most compelling, even exhilarating, example of architectural excellence to have appeared in Toronto in some time.
True, all eyes have been focused this week on the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the city's much-anticipated opera house, but where it stumbles, the Gardiner soars.
Designed by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg, the new Gardiner (111 Queen's Park, just south of Bloor St.) is a model of urbanity; it is a building that goes well beyond its function as a repository of art objects to become a vital part of a larger whole — namely the city. This connection informs every aspect of the museum; indeed, it's the subtext of the project. Again and again it reminds us that every act of architecture also represents an act of city building. The new spaces created by KPMB are fully conscious of this; indeed, they celebrate it.
Given what the designers had to start with, their accomplishment is all the more remarkable. The original museum, which opened in 1984, was an apologetic modernist structure set back too far from the sidewalk to be fully engaged, or engaging. It stood two storeys tall and never had much of an impact culturally, architecturally or civically.
Now, completely reworked and enlarged, it stands out through the sheer power of its elegance. Though the budget was extremely tight — $20 million compared to $150 million at the opera house, $250 million at the Royal Ontario Museum — KPMB has worked wonders. From the street, the first thing passersby will notice is the new facade, a series of squares and rectangles each defined by glass and limestone — yes, that's limestone, as in Indiana limestone, a material renowned for its beauty as well as itsdurability. Though there are no expanses of stone, there's enough to allow the Gardiner to hold its own with its more imposing neighbours including the Royal Ontario Museum across the street and the Lillian Massey Building and Annesley Hall next door.
And where before Gardiner and sidewalk were separated by a no-man's land, now there are stairs leading to the front door. On both sides they will be surrounded by gardens. The change is simple yet transformative; it's as if a blank space has been filled in. The lobby, now much enlarged, includes the museum shop, also much enlarged, and a ticket/information desk. Cleaned up, opened up and toned up, it hints at what lies ahead, light-filled rooms memorable as much for their spatial quality as the detail. The new contemporary gallery, which faces south, is compact but not oppressively so. It helps that the south wall is all glass and that the display cases are transparent, almost invisible.
Upstairs, where things have changed the least, the big move is the consolidation of the administrative offices, where the Gardiner's staff of 17 now works. Their wing, which culminates in one of the exterior squares, means that employees once consigned to the nearby Colonnade are now part of the museum.
The big gestures have been made on the third floor, a new space added on top of the original building. The museum's major gallery fills the back of the floor, again full of light entering through two clerestories. Beside that is Jamie Kennedy's new restaurant. It connects to the Terrace Room, a truly spectacular addition, so exquisite and beautifully proportioned it takes your breath away. With its glazed front and outdoor extension, it embraces the landmarks that surround it on three sides. The ROM has never looked better; neither has the Massey Building to the north. These are views we've never seen before; they open up the city and actually incorporate it into the very experience of the museum. The result is magical.
"We wanted our building to draw these other buildings into a conversation," Kuwabara explains. "It occupies a unique location in the city. It's a place where you can gain new knowledge of Toronto, where you can get to know the city. If you were any higher you'd be looking down. It's perfect. I think of it as an agent for our affair with the city."
Kennedy says: "It has a lightness and an elegance I've never experienced before.
"It's luxurious but spare at the same time. It's amazing. What we offer syncs in really well with what the Gardiner's doing."
Alexandra Montgomery, Gardiner executive-director, started at the museum when it opened. Back then she was a shop assistant. She watched silently as founder, the late financier George Gardiner, handed over control of his institution to the ROM. Ceramics are not populist fare and people stayed away in droves.
Gardiner was always more interested in his collection than the building that housed it. In fact, it only got built because his terms were refused when he offered it to the ROM. But audiences, even ceramics audiences, want more than the same old stuff, no matter how special it may be. This expansion gives the museum the space and mechanical means to hold the kind of travelling shows crowds expect.
"We always had to put our permanent collection in storage every time we had a show," says Montgomery, smiling broadly. "Now we have the room we need. I remember filling out that awful SuperBuild (funding) application years ago and now it's all come true. It's really fantastic. We invested in the materials — wood and stone — but they will last and get better with age."
With this project, the power of architecture to transform the city is reasserted. The Gardiner, which reopens on June 23, finally has become the facility it should have been and never was. But more important, Toronto is starting to look like a place that doesn't always have to settle for second best; it can aspire to excellence and though we don't often achieve it, sometimes we do. In this case, we have.
AoD