Toronto Royal Ontario Museum | ?m | ?s | Daniel Libeskind

Schad/connections

We did the ROM Explorers thing on Saturday with one daughter and two friends. They had a great time (it's fun to go with a kid that's never seen the ROM -- everything produces wide eyes!).

The Schad opening makes the 2nd floor flow nicely again and the various stuffed animals and interactive stuff are fun (Armadillo-cam!!!). The signage (still paper, true) really helps the flow, too.

A solid addition to the museum, but not the huge win of the new dino/mammal boneyard, the Asian or First Peoples galleries
 
The flow continues when the Earth and Early Life gallery opens - and the funky Trilobites make their grand entrance, leading into the Dino gallery.
 
All information regarding upcoming galleries seems to be gone from the ROM's website, other than the out-of-date page announcing that the Schad will be opening next.

What's the current timeline for the Early Life, Rome, Nubia, Byzantium, etc., galleries? Inquiring minds want to know.

And what am I missing from my list?

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Earth and Early Life, Nubia, Byzantium, Rome, and 20th Century Design are all scheduled to open later this year or early in 2010, as far as I know.

The Trypillians ( frightfully nice people - made lovely pottery ... ) vacated the Centre Block of Level 3 at the end of March, so that work on the 20th Century gallery ( and Byzantium, or whatever else is supposed to go in that space ) could begin. But the Egyptian Book of the Dead exhibition, to the west of that space, continues until October so I don't see how all of the World Culture galleries can possibly be finished this year. The Schad gallery was originally supposed to open in Winter 2008/09 but didn't.
 
The Trypillians was a fascinating exhibit--it's not often these days one gets to learn so much about a group that was (for me) unknown though likely well known amongst people from the Ukraine. The pieces were well laid out as well. In spite of the exorbitant entrance fee and mixed feelings about the Crystal I'm liking what the ROM has been doing lately.
 
ROM-New Bug Webcam

Well...ugh! The new webcam at the Schad Galleries. Watch the little buggies eat! By "de-feathered" I take it they mean "plucked". By "de-skinned" I take it they mean "skinned".

Once, again...ugh!:eek:

http://www.rom.on.ca/schad/insects.php
 
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Virtual Tourist.com has named the Crystal addition to the ROM as the 8th ugliest building in the world in it's 2nd Annual "World's Ugliest Building" list. The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea made number 10.

It's all rubbish but it did make the CityTV news at 6. Perhaps they're looking for some PR to bring more hits to their website.

It reads:

8) Royal Ontario Museum; Toronto, Canada

What I.M. Pei’s pyramid is to the Louvre, so is the relatively new Michael Lee-Chin Crystal to the Royal Ontario Museum. While many praise the glass structure, just as many are troubled by the incongruity to the original, more traditional museum that still sits directly beside it.

I'm not providing a link because they ask for your email address to get rid of a pop-up, you can Google it if you want to read more.
 
The top ten ugliest which includes The Beehive? I will be the first to admit that I was impressed by the models and renderings and not as impressed with the final result but it is nowhere near the ugliest building in the world in any category. In my opinion the result would look a lot better had they finished the whole thing in transparent glass where the windows are and frosted glass elsewhere rather than having bold black outlines separating slats from glass, but ugliest... no way.
 
A flawed crystal it is, but someone must have it in for Lib., or Toronto, or the ROM to crown it ugliest.
 
This is ridiculous. It is far too contentious a design to pronounce it so conclusively 'ugly'. The final cladding does leave a lot to be desired and I'm surprised the manufacturer of it got away with it but 'ugly'? Oh well, they said the same thing about the Eiffel Tower when it went up, right?
 
Speaking of Parisian landmarks, remember that the 10-ugliest list we're dealing with also includes the Pompidou. That is, it's a list that makes the Pugs look professional...
 
I don't get the point of this list. Why create an "annual" list of ugliest buildings that have been standing, in some cases, for decades? Why not just haul out a bunch of brutalist building, throw in some ugly archaeological ruins, plus the Tower of Babel, and be done with it.

Also, does it occur to anybody that none of the ugly buildings come from China or from Dubai? Surely these places have produced some architectural blunders over the course of their construction booms.
 
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