taal
Senior Member
No one was able to answer this question before but any idea how big the AGO is now after the expansion?
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MetroMan
Senior Member
The streetcar wires are there to stay... but the 1920's style hydro wires on wooden poles are probably going to be dealt with soon enough.
PukeGreen
Active Member
The lineup on Saturday just after 11am looked grim, extending down McCaul to the OCAD entrance, but it actually moved quite quickly. I would guess we were inside within half an hour. However, it was really too crowded to do any "art appreciation" but a good opportunity to wander around and get a feeling for the building itself, which was as impressive as advertised. Galleria Italia was my favourite.
I was surprised that I saw very few security staff inside, even as people were touching the artworks and in one case, almost tripping over a lower barrier into a sculpture. The security outside were in good moods and pretty cheerful despite the crowds. Maybe they'd just come on shift.
I saw a few people taking photos with abandon, which irritated me a little because I'd followed the rules and left my camera at home. Still, I can see from the gallery's perspective that having everyone clicking cameras could be dangerous, what with everyone obstructing each other's photos, walking around looking through camera lenses instead of where they were going, backing up into artworks while posing to get in the frame, etc.
I was surprised that I saw very few security staff inside, even as people were touching the artworks and in one case, almost tripping over a lower barrier into a sculpture. The security outside were in good moods and pretty cheerful despite the crowds. Maybe they'd just come on shift.
I saw a few people taking photos with abandon, which irritated me a little because I'd followed the rules and left my camera at home. Still, I can see from the gallery's perspective that having everyone clicking cameras could be dangerous, what with everyone obstructing each other's photos, walking around looking through camera lenses instead of where they were going, backing up into artworks while posing to get in the frame, etc.
azzo
New Member
I cant disagree with you more, i really fancy those columns! not sure what people have against concrete here....
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Agreed. What I found incongruous was the wood ceiling outside the front of the Gallery.
Builder EllisDon's website says 190,000 square feet of renovated space and 97,000 square feet of newly built space. They also say, however, "The overall gallery space will increase by 40% to a total of 123,500 square feet." I have also seen the figure of "47%" many times in regard to the expanded display space for art.
I get the feeling that it is pretty difficult to measure now much display space a gallery has. Does one count the square footage of the walls that the art hangs on as opposed to the floor space? Or do you count the linear feet of wall? What about floor space in regards to sculpture then? Just count the space sitting underneath plinths or cases? What about for spaces like Galleria Italia where the south wall and the floor are being used to display the sculpture? Use cubic feet maybe? Nobody seems to be quoting that number.
Years ago the AGO was called 'the 8th largest art museum in North America'. Since then others would have been expanded and we would have lost a few spots. Obviously we've leap-frogged a few again. Nobody seems to be saying what place we're in now though. Maybe everyone's having trouble calculating just how big they are.
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taal
Senior Member
Thanks!
Yea I looked online quite a bit to get a general idea of the other art museums in NA but didn't have much luck.
Yea I looked online quite a bit to get a general idea of the other art museums in NA but didn't have much luck.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Talking of which, betcha we got more General Idea than all the others.
299 bloor call control.
Senior Member
Wikipedia says:
"With 486,000 ft² (45,000 m²) of physical space, the AGO is one of the largest art museums in North America."
There's no source to tha tthough.
"With 486,000 ft² (45,000 m²) of physical space, the AGO is one of the largest art museums in North America."
There's no source to tha tthough.
Solaris
Senior Member
a few shots from my visit on Sunday ~ 
crowd - a - moly
Gallerie Italia
crowd - a - moly
Gallerie Italia
Solaris
Senior Member
Scaled Model
mysteryman
Active Member
Most recently I've heard that the AGO is 7th in North America. I have no idea where that source is from as it would be interesting to see where other galleries are falling.
taal
Senior Member
That's before or after the expansion? I vaguely recall someone mentioning it would be the largest after the expansion but that's hard to believe.
adma
Superstar
Must be this past week of getting caught up in the AGO rapture, but I glimpsed on a TV screen today someone who in passing reminded me somewhat of Frank Gehry. Turned out to be Russell Oliver
Chrisel
New Member
www.worldarchitecturenews.com
Exclusive images document a remarkable new chapter in AGO’s 108-year history
“We’re not just opening doors, we’re opening mindsâ€. It is with this forward thinking slogan that the Art Gallery of Ontario opened its doors after a remarkable transformation penned by Toronto- born Frank Gehry.
Launched in 2002, the transformation programme has included the major architectural extension by Gehry and the expansion of the permanent collection. As a consequence, the new AGO offers a 47 per cent increase in art viewing space welcoming visitors to 110 light-filled galleries featuring more than 4,000 new and perennial art works.
The building is surprisingly Gehry’s first commission in his native city and contains an interesting array of signature elements such as an iconic sculptural staircase emerging from Walker Court (the historic centre of the AGO), the sweeping glass-and-wood Galleria Italia extending an entire city block along Dundas Street, and the new contemporary tower with its vistas of Grange Park and of a Toronto Skyline never seen from this angle.
With this new museum extension, Frank Gehry has devised an unforgettable space to honour the art housed within. Attention to the core issue of the pleasure of art viewing is palpable throughout thanks to the amount of natural light and transparency that permeate the extension.
Happy to define his recent creation as “a real Frank Gehry buildingâ€, the architect nonetheless commented on the hard nature of remodelling an existing structure, as the gallery has since its opening in 1900 seen many extension with the latest designed by Barton Myers in 1993.
Laura Salmi
Reporter
Exclusive images document a remarkable new chapter in AGO’s 108-year history
“We’re not just opening doors, we’re opening mindsâ€. It is with this forward thinking slogan that the Art Gallery of Ontario opened its doors after a remarkable transformation penned by Toronto- born Frank Gehry.
Launched in 2002, the transformation programme has included the major architectural extension by Gehry and the expansion of the permanent collection. As a consequence, the new AGO offers a 47 per cent increase in art viewing space welcoming visitors to 110 light-filled galleries featuring more than 4,000 new and perennial art works.
The building is surprisingly Gehry’s first commission in his native city and contains an interesting array of signature elements such as an iconic sculptural staircase emerging from Walker Court (the historic centre of the AGO), the sweeping glass-and-wood Galleria Italia extending an entire city block along Dundas Street, and the new contemporary tower with its vistas of Grange Park and of a Toronto Skyline never seen from this angle.
With this new museum extension, Frank Gehry has devised an unforgettable space to honour the art housed within. Attention to the core issue of the pleasure of art viewing is palpable throughout thanks to the amount of natural light and transparency that permeate the extension.
Happy to define his recent creation as “a real Frank Gehry buildingâ€, the architect nonetheless commented on the hard nature of remodelling an existing structure, as the gallery has since its opening in 1900 seen many extension with the latest designed by Barton Myers in 1993.
Laura Salmi
Reporter