Toronto Aga Khan Museum + Ismaili Centre | ?m | ?s | Aga Khan Dev. | Maki and Associates

Agreed; Only regret is its location; I'd think a museam district or the like (thinking of Chicago) in the west donlands would give them ample space to do something similar
 
taal said:
Agreed; Only regret is its location; I'd think a museam district or the like (thinking of Chicago) in the west donlands would give them ample space to do something similar
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It may not be a central location, but that area of the city is home to a large percentage of Toronto's Ismaili community. The Aga Khan Foundation is plenty wealthy enough to have built a complex Downtown, but I'd guess that this location was a pretty calculated move. The Crosstown stop will almost certainly boost traffic to the site
 
I just think there's something to be said about having most if not all museums in a relatively close by area; The other big candidate being the science center it self.

Not really sure how we compare with other cities in this regard.
 
From my past visits, I'm well familiar with Amsterdam's Museumkwartier. I believe Vienna also has a similar district.

In terms of Toronto, the Bloor area from Avenue Rd to St. George is probably the closest there is currently. With the ROM, Gardiner Museum, and Bata Shoe Museum within relative close distance in the area. Casa Loma and Spadina Museum are further north above the Annex.

While other major museum attractions like the AGO, Hockey HoF, Ontario Science Centre are of course in separate locations throughout the city.
 
In the Ottawa area they are here, there and everywhere, same with New York, London, Paris, Rome. The Smithsonian in Washington is the greatest concentration of museums in the world, but you'll get other museums in Washington that are not on the Mall. Some of Berlin's are concentrated in one cluster, but not all of them. It might make it more convenient to visit some of those, but how often do you go to more than one museum in a day? I like museums, but I never find myself, having spent two or three hours in one, wanting to go to another one on the same day. Because of that, I see little reason to cluster them, and in fact I would rather see cultural centres enrich areas throughout the city. Some people won't travel far to go to a museum, so let's spread them the goodness around!

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It's sometimes nice to have a few museums or institutions clustered around one another but I don't like the idea of having more than a few in one location.
 
Bloor is a high end street- has been for generations and of course so has the ROM. I think both the science centre and Aga Khan museum will benefit a lot with the new subway extension. I'm a little more concerned with the new contemporary art gallery, it might be in a tricky location in terms of transit, and certainly doesn't have the size/prestige to draw the average visitor out of the downtown. Really wish they could have worked something out with Mirvish/Gehry.
 
Bogtrotter said:
Bloor is a high end street- has been for generations and of course so has the ROM. I think both the science centre and Aga Khan museum will benefit a lot with the new subway extension. I'm a little more concerned with the new contemporary art gallery, it might be in a tricky location in terms of transit, and certainly doesn't have the size/prestige to draw the average visitor out of the downtown. Really wish they could have worked something out with Mirvish/Gehry.
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You mean MOCCA? It's easily accessible by the UP Express, subway, GO Transit, streetcars, bike share, etc.
 
I agree that not choosing a downtown location was definitely a missed opportunity. This location really turns it into a rich suburban community museum and is a barrier to get embraced by the entire city. Not to mention the admission price to the museum as well as special events are pretty pricey for the offering. A lot of people will visit once to check it off their list and will never go again in years.
 
Avenue said:
This location really turns it into a rich suburban community museum and is a barrier to get embraced by the entire city.
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I don't love the location either, but I find this somewhat quizzical; this is a reasonable walk from some of the most economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the city. I'd love to see a real, substantial, holistic, city-led effort to prioritize walking and cycling connections from some of those communities to this museum, though we know that won't happen.
 
Went up today to see Rumi exhibit and saw this. Lovely!
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This is tangential, but some might be interested in watching this update on construction of the Ismaili Centre Houston. As some have noted previously, the centres do sometimes operate as a network, so the location of other centres do make an impact on programming or other partnership activation in Toronto. I am aware, for example, that items from the Aga Khan Museum have been shown in Houston at different points over the last few years.

[youtube]
 
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