AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Hmm, it doesn't look particularly like it's updating the plaza to me.
AoD
AoD
it looks more like they are replacing the exterior cladding and maybe adding insulation to it.Hmm, it doesn't look particularly like it's updating the plaza to me.
AoD
When a building's entire concept is so flawed - right down to its circulation (one of the key priorities in a museum program) - no amount of fire-rated glass or cladding improvements will change it for the better in any meaningful way.
The issue with the old wings is that the "crystal" did not weave them together as part of a cohesive program bound by some particular conception of circulation. If it had been a well-designed modern museum with any respect for the heritage wings and the ROM as it existed, it would have done so. It can be done - designers of great museums around the world have had to work with far more challenging forms than the old wings of the ROM, and have achieved a much greater effect and a concept that makes for a cohesive experience as one moves through the museum and an understandable circulatory path. The issue is not the older wings; I would argue that the issue with the ROM is in fact very much with the newer portion and its relationship to what came before.
Libeskind's answer was to plop down a grand staircase in a soaring atrium and use a bunch of crystalline geometry to wow shareholders and philanthropists. It did not attempt any dialogue with the existing ROM wings, nor did it have a real concept or architectural parti at its core. That blame is on Libeskind, not on the original ROM buildings.
I should note that Libeskind was great as an architectural theorist and his exploration of architectural forms were very worthwhile. But he was much better as a paper architect. Since his Jewish Museum, everything he does comes across as a thoughtless and a very post rationalized and disingenuous re-hash. But that's the power of a name and a 'brand'.
The proposed southern enclosure should be large enough to house a full temple, just like the Met; however, that would require the demolition of McLaughlin Planetarium and the acquisition of a temple.
I noticed that Friday evenings with discounted ticket prices are still rather empty; if the museum cannot afford free Friday evenings like it used to, then it would be wise for the ROM to test out Met-style pay-as-you-can approach on Friday evenings instead.
That's too bad (though to be fair, U of T once partially owned the ROM).The planetarium site was sold to U of T - it's not ROM's anymore.
AoD
That's too bad (though to be fair, U of T once partially owned the ROM).