What a system we have when religious entities have an as-of-right tax exemption, but world class cultural facilities have to go before council with their hat in their hands.

Maybe they can build an Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption across the street:

 
There are three components of this site: 1) the Ismaili Centre, which is not just a religious entity, but also a community centre available to the community at large; 2) the Aga Khan Museum, which is a cultural institution in the same way as the AGO and ROM, both of which, by the way, receive funding from the province and, in the case of AGO, from the city; as they both also have charitable status, I would argue, so should the AKM and IC site; 3) the surrounding park, which is freely open to the public at any time. Each of these supports the request that the site should be tax exempt.

This is not a commercial venture for profit. Everything built here is for the benefit of the people of Toronto, Ontario and Canada. What's more, except for some supporting infrastructure, these were all built without any contribution other than from the Aga Khan. Asking for taxes to be paid would a slap in the face.
 
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Some of the trees in the garden are looking mighty stressed by the lack of rain this summer, but overall the site is looking great (and the lavender is loving the weather):

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I think we need fewer tax exceptions, not more. And we definitely shouldn't be helping out medieval religions more than we need to. Most of the old books encourage violations of our law and would be classified as hate-speech if they weren't so old.
 
Trolling aside, the exhibition Álvaro Siza: A Gateway to the Alhambra opens tomorrow at the Aga Khan, and we've got a front page story to introduce you to it. Any serious fans of architecture will be interested.

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I've been to the Alhambra. It blew me away with its intricate ornamentation covering almost every surface, and its openness to the outside environment.
 
Yup, exactly, it's a mind-blower! Siza's visitors centre is subdued in contrast to it, and not looking to compete. Both though, are rather zen, just in their own different but what look to be complementary ways.

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Had the pleasure of being a guest at one of their past Holiday dinners. This is truly a gem.
 
I really do wish the galleries were larger (maybe with a larger contemporary artist gallery instead of artifacts), but you can't complain with the quality of architecture we got.
 
The geometric minimalist architecture exudes confidence and the complex stands as a bold landmark without apparent compromises. In terms of architecture, it's an outstanding addition to the city's collection of cultural institutions, with better execution than the ROM Crystal and more confident and memorable architecture than the Four Seasons Centre for the Arts.
 
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