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

The reason people don't like the "crystal" is because it is ugly. They cheaped out and covered it in aluminum siding. Had they used better materials (ie. glass) this might actually look like a crystal but instead it just looks like a garden shed caught in a wind storm.
 
You don't necessarily buy cheap from Josef Gartner. The Globe have a figure quoted:

The unsung hero who solved this challenge, says Thorsell, was project architect Garbers, who back in 2003 dreamed up a two-layer cladding system, water-tight on the bottom, with a grid of anodized aluminum sitting on top. The grid would prevent snow from forming heavy loads, instead dispersing it onto the warmer layer beneath, where it would melt and flow into hidden gutters.

But when the ROM asked for tenders on this complex system, it got "a big shock," admits Garbers. "So expensive!" The lowest bidder, Gartner, was hired to design, build and install the cladding for around $15-million.
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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/crystal-clouded-by-delays-glitches/article18178120/

AoD
 
It looks quite sharp and polished to me, however I agree insofar that it certainly did not meet initial expectations. Had they proposed this cladding initially I would have favoured one of the other designs. Generally speaking I like striking modern builds incorporated into or adjacent to old stone buildings, you see it more of course in Europe. It is usually works better with glass though, which opens up spaces, seems less intrusive and tends not to overwhelm.
 
The problem with the cladding is that it's:

1.) Miscoloured
2.) Miscoloured
3.) Miscoloured
4.) Looks like cheap aluminum/vinyl siding

They should switch out the matte aluminum slats for slats with a more reflective finish.
 
Bogtrotter said:
It looks quite sharp and polished to me, however I agree insofar that it certainly did not meet initial expectations. Had they proposed this cladding initially I would have favoured one of the other designs. Generally speaking I like striking modern builds incorporated into or adjacent to old stone buildings, you see it more of course in Europe. It is usually works better with glass though, which opens up spaces, seems less intrusive and tends not to overwhelm.
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I was rooting for Bing Thom originally - but thinking back it probably wouldn't have aged well. Andrea Bruno's would have, but it definitely won't be a wow.

AoD
 
I think Bing Thom's proposal would have created a better entry sequence and public space.

Almost a Rose Planetarium sort of space. With less exhibition space of course.

rom-overview1.jpg

http://bingthomarchitects.com/project/royal-ontario-museum/

Andrea Bruno's proposal definitely seems too underwhelming for the era:

133379-56399.jpg
 
Yes I liked the Thom design too, but I preferred the glass crystal concept- still do. I did think that they should opt for a design that was eye-catching. For all it's wonderful stone it was a very staid looking building and almost cliche for an old museum, especially relative to new museum buildings in some global cities. Bruno's would have been more conventional and practical- perhaps more typically Toronto at the time :)
 
In a way I'm glad it's still controversial. The AGO was contemplated and built around the same time, but escaped the unrelenting scrutiny of the ROM build-out, fairly or not.
 
Any design that had glass glass glass in it would have ended up the same way that the crystal ended up: with not much glass.

The problem with any museum and glass, is that the objects you put in a room that gets a lot of light must not be susceptible to fading, and that's not many things.

I wish they would find another space in the building to move the textile and costume gallery to, because the objects therein are pretty much the most susceptible to fading out of all of the ROM's collections, and yet they are on the top floor. Because of that, all of the rather fantastic shards of windows at the top of the cube have been closed up. What should have been located in that rather fantastic space, the most crystalline in shape of all of the galleries, would be their minerals, gems and gold. Programmatically though, they are grouped on the second floor with other earth sciences and evolution galleries, so no dice. Maybe armour could go into that gallery…

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The perfect place for the textile and costume galleries would be the basement space where they currently have all the temporary exhibits.

old boy said:
In a way I'm glad it's still controversial. The AGO was contemplated and built around the same time, but escaped the unrelenting scrutiny of the ROM build-out, fairly or not.
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I actually like the Gehry AGO for being a far more subtle space, 'wowing' in the right spots and being a blank canvas in others.
 
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