maestro
Senior Member
"revenge is a dish best served cold"
Toronto Aga Khan Museum + Ismaili Centre | ?m | ?s | Aga Khan Dev. | Maki and Associates
"revenge is a dish best served cold"
p5connex
Active Member
FYI it's Khan not Kahn...
Khan = Muslim surname
Kahn = Jewish surname
Good point - I shall revise it.
walli
Active Member
A few renderings - ISC, Gardens and AKM ...
Theatre in the museum is pretty cool - modern take on traditional Islamic geometric patterns. Materials looks interesting also - some of the more close-up renders provide a better feel for textures and subtleties. I think it is also pretty cool that the extensive parking lot has been put underground such as to provide the diverse gardens, which are like nothing else in the city.
[I had provided links to many of these, and there are actually many more, however I think many may not have seen these]
Theatre in the museum is pretty cool - modern take on traditional Islamic geometric patterns. Materials looks interesting also - some of the more close-up renders provide a better feel for textures and subtleties. I think it is also pretty cool that the extensive parking lot has been put underground such as to provide the diverse gardens, which are like nothing else in the city.
[I had provided links to many of these, and there are actually many more, however I think many may not have seen these]
yyzer
Senior Member
Very impressive.....
B
barit
Guest
Yeah, underground parking for 750 cars - real eco-friendly.
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ganjavih
Senior Member
I can't wait to see this fine addition to our city. I wish it looked a bit more Islamic though.
walli
Active Member
There has been a lot of debate on this topic within certain circles, IE what is 'islamic architecture' and if there is such a thing, need it be stuck in time and if now, how many it develop.
Within these designs, it seems that there are many modern takes on the historic. There are certainly many gardens, a staple in most islamic architecture - but a garden in Cairo, the Alhambra, Samarkhand or Agra cannot be the same as in Toronto - so there was thought around what it would be for and where it will be. You can see integration of historical touchstones in the roof of the theatre as an example, and there is a char bhag garden at the centre of the museum also.
The artifacts and different pieces within the museum may provide the historical islamic atmosphere that some people were looking for. That is something that remains to be seen. I'm actually particularly curious also of the Ismaili Centre portion, for which I have not seen layout drawings for. It seems to be a rather complex building also, and I believe there is an internal garden there also that is not visible in these renderings.
walli
Active Member
3xotic had mentioned that an Ismaili Centre was set to open in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on October 12th. That indeed happened. As expected, the event was quite grand, with the president of that country opening the centre. Per the hallmark of the Ismaili Centres, this one is also quite unique and includes much detail. While the Toronto Centre, per the drawings that have already been shared, will be quite different, a look at the images of the Tajikistan centre will be a window to the quality, detail and thoughtfulness we can expect in Toronto:
http://www.theismaili.org/cms/891/Gallery-Architecture-of-the-Ismaili-Centre-Dushanbe
Click on the first picture and you can then slide-show through the set of 19.
Accompanying the gallery of pictures was the following press release:
http://www.theismaili.org/cms/888/Press-Release-First-Ismaili-Centre-in-Central-Asia-Opens
http://www.theismaili.org/cms/891/Gallery-Architecture-of-the-Ismaili-Centre-Dushanbe
Click on the first picture and you can then slide-show through the set of 19.
Accompanying the gallery of pictures was the following press release:
http://www.theismaili.org/cms/888/Press-Release-First-Ismaili-Centre-in-Central-Asia-Opens
ArcticS
New Member
Wow, thanks for that walli, the centre is incredible! I wonder if Dushabe residents are saying "hmm, this is nice, but I wish we had a Bata shoe office instead!"
B
barit
Guest
Wow, thanks for that walli, the centre is incredible! I wonder if Dushabe residents are saying "hmm, this is nice, but I wish we had a Bata shoe office instead!"
This misses the whole point. The AKFC should have incorporated Bata into their plans. They missed the boat with this one and have pissed off a lot of people, me included.
alklay
Senior Member
Wow, thanks for that walli, the centre is incredible! I wonder if Dushabe residents are saying "hmm, this is nice, but I wish we had a Bata shoe office instead!"
We don't have either!!
And I agree that the point is, is that the Bata building should have been incorporated instead of knocked down.
yyzer
Senior Member
buried in this Daily Commercial News article concerning Vanbots construction partnering with Carillion engineering out of the U.K., some unexpected news about the project...
full article here....http://www.dcnonl.com/article/id36203
full article here....http://www.dcnonl.com/article/id36203
walli
Active Member
http://www.vanbots.com/magazine/Vanbots_Synergy_Jan2008.pdf
excerpt:
"Vanbots has been selected as Construction
Manager to construct the Ismaili Centre and
Aga Khan Museum for Imara (Wynford) Limited.
The project consists of several stages: a $55M,
84,000 sf Community Centre and Prayer Hall;
a $75M, 104,000 sf Museum to house His
Highness the Aga Khan’s collection of artifacts
and works consisting of an Underground Parking
Garage, Central Utilities Plant and extensive
landscaping with a budget of $50M. With the
involvement of 4 world class architects, this
project will no doubt be an architectural icon."
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Strangely, the Union Station report from Council today reported that the project is worth 240M and starting "shortly"
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/cc/bgrd/gm26.32a.pdf (p. 3)
AoD
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/cc/bgrd/gm26.32a.pdf (p. 3)
AoD
walli
Active Member
Not sure why it is strange - it is actually good news. Seems to somewhat align with the March 2010 start 3xotic reported on November 7th.
Regarding the cost, I suspect the Vanbots numbers from January 2008 (IE 55+75+50= $180M) only accounted for construction and not for things like land and/or design work or other costs. Previously, I had heard $200M and $250M total for the project, so $240M seems in line with that.
Would be good to have this get going in the current economic climate while other projects are going on hold!
Aside - here is a video podcast which talks about the museum portion of the project (you can click 'visualize' to watch it streaming in a compressed format, or you can 'download' for the high quality version):
http://www.akdn.org/podcasts.asp?id=878
Note that it talks about ~1,000 items - reinforcing the prior articulation that the exhibitions touring Europe currently are each only a sample of the full collection.
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