ADRM
Senior Member
Well, we are getting a DSR there so no complaints whatsoever.
AoD
...unless U of T caves to the "save the planetarium" NIMBYs.
Well, we are getting a DSR there so no complaints whatsoever.
AoD
...unless U of T caves to the "save the planetarium" NIMBYs.
The Crystal will make so much more sense if they fix the old buildings to match its open, minimalist style.
Please God no. It's like people who buy an old Victorian house because they claim to love Victorians and then they make it open-concept and remove everything that made it Victorian in the first place. The old wings were never meant to have an "open, minimalist style" and they are beautiful because they offer something different than the contemporary.
There's a long way between minimalist, in the sense of the postmodern Crystal's stark interiors, and ornate in the classical sense.
What I am responding to his use of the language "open" and "minimalist" in the vein of the Crystal. They are certainly not ornate compared to a lot of Canadian architecture from their time, no, but it would still be a travesty to change them to try and make them more like the Crystal.
When someone is calling for historical galleries to be updated to match the starkness of a postmodern building addition like the Crystal - especially when the old galleries are the most established and meaningful for many people in Toronto, in addition to their objective historical and architectural value - I think it's pedantic to point out that the galleries are not in fact very ornate for their time of construction or are 'minimalist' or open. In the context of a postmodern conception of space in the 2008 addition to the building, and someone calling for them to be 'fixed' to match that design sensibility, it's a non-sequitur.
In the case that MetroMan is expressing a desire for the old buildings to be 'fixed' by tacking more ill conceived / post rationalized Libeskind "crystals" onto the complex, I still maintain that it's very flawed thinking. There is a good reason that the architecture community was never supportive of the Crystal proposal - it was pushed by a select group of individuals within the institution and few others. More of the Crystal wouldn't fix the ROM - it would take it in the very wrong direction. (Not to mention the yet-again increased ticket costs and other funding issues that would come along with it.) No thanks.
Please God no. It's like people who buy an old Victorian house because they claim to love Victorians and then they make it open-concept and remove everything that made it Victorian in the first place. The old wings were never meant to have an "open, minimalist style" and they are beautiful because they offer something different than the contemporary.
Have you seen the renovated West Wing? It was restored to largely its original condition: wide open spaces where the artifacts stand out in minimalist glass cases that don't call attention to themselves. It's what I'd like to see for the remaining galleries in the old wings. Gone with the kitsch and dioramas, gone with the walls added over time that have turned the old wings into mazes and dead ends.
I'm a member as well. Having visited the ROM for most of my life, ( I'm 69 ), I can say that my close relationship to the place probably clouds an objective appraisal of what's right or wrong with the overall presentation. The three previous posters all make valid points - there is a confusing layout , with jarring contrasts between minimalist and the more Victorian galleries. Perhaps the the issues might have been resolved had funding been in place to finish the project as AlvinoDiaspar suggests. This is the pre-eminent institution of it's kind in Canada. Maybe it's time to launch another major fund raising drive to complete what should be a crowning jewel in Toronto. With all the construction going on in Toronto it's been a while since anyone has heard of major cultural investments.
The Byzantine gallery is very byzantine in layout.Also look at how say the Byzantium gallery was handled:
http://www.rom.on.ca/en/exhibitions...res/joey-and-toby-tanenbaum-gallery-byzantium
It looks sloppy compared to Phase 1.
I'd love to see a major museum or art gallery on the central waterfront!
I do too, but I think we are running out of good, extremely accessible locations. Somewhere by East Harbour maybe the best bet.
AoD