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

The building takes attention away from the exhibit. Too busy, with creases and lines. Very distracting.

Yikes... I almost... ermm... miss the old ROM in alot of ways. :cool:
 
As pointed out earlier, the latest ROM magazine carries an article explaining that many of the dinosaurs which were once thought to sit up on their hind legs and rear up like crazed kangaroos are now known to have walked on all fours and been much lower to the ground.

For instance, when the ROM's Corythosaurus was first displayed in the 1930's it stood over 17 feet tall and the gallery had to be designed around it. Now it is displayed in a more scientifically correct pose as a quadroped, with the backbone parallel to the ground, and the tail extending back from it as a counterweight rather than trailing on the ground.

The ROM's Albertosaurus and Camptosaurus have also been brought back to earth and aren't bipeds any more.
 
This crystal addition to the ROM is so celebrated, yet it doesn't seem to fulfill its intended functions very well. The initial excitement is going to wear off for many people. (Not all people.)

Meanwhile, so many people hate on the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, which maybe understated, but serves its purpose beautifully. It works with what's inside and doesn't try to distract its opera guests and scream for their attention instead.
 
Others sill enjoy both structures and the benefits they have provided for their respective neighborhoods. Remember, Lebiskind's crystal has been tried and constructed in other places to critical acclaim. Diamond's Four Seasons Center was a finalist for the Architectural Record/McGraw Hill prize in architecture. Just because some people here complain about buildings, doesn't mean that others feel the same way.
 
It's simply stunning. I'm so excited to view the ROM after all (or at least most) of the galleries are installed.

What a fantastic addition for Toronto.
 
Alvin: I asked for a copy of the book when I was there on Sunday but there weren't any. I guess they stuck with the plan of releasing it yesterday.

URBAN!TY: In what ways doesn't the Crystal "seem to fulfill its intended functions very well"?

The FSCPA building performs a different function from the ROM building. It is used for a limited number of performances of opera or ballet at specific times, mainly in the evening; most of the tickets go to subscribers - the building doesn't need to be a dramatic 3D logo to draw thousands of casual visitors off the street all day long. The AGO and ROM have bought into the fashionable notion that loud, camera-friendly starchitecture appeals to the masses and gets them inside to look at the wares. The FSCPA, because of what it does, has the luxury of being understated and going a different route. Toronto is a big enough cultural centre to allow for such diverse and appropriate forms of expression.
 
I had a quick look at the book this morning. It has the Libeskind interview, pictures of the earlier ROM wings under construction including a couple of interesting renderings of proposed Terrace Gallery designs that weren't built, some written history of the ROM, philosophical chatter about the role of the museum and the Crystal etc. etc. Not bad at all.

Another good ROM book, which can be found in second-hand bookshops and on eBay occasionally, is The Museum Makers by Lovat Dickson, published in 1986.

And, of course, Charles Trick Currelly's autobiography, I Brought The Ages Home.
 
I was there this morning with a friend just to check the book out as well - nice, but I don't think it was worth what they're asking - I was expecting something more on the addition and less on the ROM in general.

AoD
 
I finally got a chance to check out the interior. I see what people mean by the problematic workmanship. There are also some questionable choices in terms of finishing materials and detailing that don't seem to be holding up too well to the school bus hords. I went at night so I may have missed the impact of how natural light streams into the building enhancing the forms. Overall, I'm sitting on the fence on this one. Some of the internal spaces are really interesting and some are perplexingly ackward and questionable. I really liked the new dinosaur exhibit a vast improvement over the old ROM. There is still way too much blank canvas in the museum but I'm sure this will be rectified over time.

I took the time to take a closer look at the old ROM entrance and central staircase. What struck me is that one of the best things about moving the entrance to the new crystal is that all the utilitarian clutter is shifted out of that beautiful space. Examining the stone staircases and rotunda I can't help but think how nice the space is even after the wear and tear of millions of feet. By comparison the new crystal although interesting enough in form is so many tonnes of drywall rubbish.

Anyway, I look forward to the new galleries opening up and I'm glad the ROM is moving forward and will benefit from expanded display space and hope the people of this city make good and inceasing use of this public institution.
 
With the demolition of the 1984 Terrace galleries, and the construction of the Crystal in order to link the 1914 and 1933 wings at their north end, we're certainly getting closer to experiencing how the museum was intended to function when it was planned almost a century ago.

But the second element in that 1984 expansion - the curatorial centre - still stymies the completion of the original plan, which also involved linking the 1914 and 1933 wings at their south end.

Perhaps, once the Planetarium is demolished, that original plan can be achieved with the construction of an east-west linking wing at the south end of the site, just south of the curatorial centre?
 
I walked past the barn tonight and noticed the animals but have a question (actually most passersby agreed with me on this point): will the animals sleep in the dark or be lit up at night? Right now, it looks rather rural....

And at first I thought the video graphics on the side of the barn "dinos" was for some new chocolate bar promotion! Seriously, the font looks rather unispired!
 
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