pman said:
True. One could argue we aren’t in fact stuck with it. The Liebeskind monstrosity replaced a seventies addition, so there’s precedent for tearing down a relatively recent ROM addition. In fact, the Globe’s architecture critic at the time of the Crystal’s construction suggested just that.
Click to expand...

Not likely - like it or hate it, it is a highly visible part of the architectural heritage of the city now. Maybe it can be modified to something more akin the original vision in the future.

AoD
 
pman said:
True. One could argue we aren’t in fact stuck with it. The Liebeskind monstrosity replaced a seventies addition, so there’s precedent for tearing down a relatively recent ROM addition. In fact, the Globe’s architecture critic at the time of the Crystal’s construction suggested just that.
Click to expand...

The idea, I don't think, was a bad one.............the execution was..........disappointing.
 
ADRM said:
Ditto the pyramids at the Louvre.
Click to expand...

Pei's proposal for the Louvre did survive the process including execution well - there is a significant degradation of the outward appearance of Libeskind's RenROM, including the final iteration and the project "as built". Thorsten ain't Mitterand (though Ott's Bastile Opera, tsk tsk); and the powers that be at the time (Harris/Eves and Chretien) are cheapos.

AoD
 
Last edited:
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Not likely - like it or hate it, it is a highly visible part of the architectural heritage of the city now. Maybe it can be modified to something more akin the original vision in the future.

AoD
Click to expand...
Given the ruthlessness with which Toronto has erased so much of its architectural heritage, I would have thought that demolishing something this dysfunctional in twenty or thirty years would be a no-brainer.
 
pman said:
Given the ruthlessness with which Toronto has erased so much of its architectural heritage, I would have thought that demolishing something this dysfunctional in twenty or thirty years would be a no-brainer.
Click to expand...

You can probably get away with it in the 50s/60s, but a building that would raise huge debates over its' demolition isn't one likely to get bulldozed nowadays. Personally I am more concerned over the HPA proposal to redo the entrance, but we haven't seen any good rendering of what's proposed so far.

AoD
 
pman said:
Given the ruthlessness with which Toronto has erased so much of its architectural heritage, I would have thought that demolishing something this dysfunctional in twenty or thirty years would be a no-brainer.
Click to expand...
You would have to have no brains to demolish it: there is an unbelievable amount of steel in it, embodied energy in it, money in it. It would be a huge waste of all of those things for it to come down (very expensively), so it's best to adapt it where it needs it, improving it where we can.

Here's a shot by @AlvinofDiaspar from July 2006 that gives just a hint of what's holding this thing up (you have to imagine how much more there is hidden behind the skin of the west crystal):

176254


There are a pile of those multi-i-beam connection points in there…

42
 
Last edited:
On the bright side doesn't structural steel have one of the highest recycling recovery rates of any material ;). I think the greatest failure of the design is not in it's architectural expression or even execution. The greatest failure is the design of the interior spaces particularly related to circulation. My wife takes my daughter there almost every two weeks. The number of wasted spaces is shocking as are the tortuous routes of getting from A to B. Actually that second point is almost a bonus point because it inspires wonder in children and if you are one of 10% of occupants that know where you are going you can bypass crowded choke points. P.S. there are many choke points that could almost be described as dangerous particularly if you have a stroller or wheel chair.
 
interchange42 said:
You would have to have no brains to demolish it: there is an unbelievable amount of steel in it, embodied energy in it, money in it. It would be a huge waste of all of those things for it to come down (very expensively), so it's best to adapt it where it needs it, improving it where we can.

Here's a shot by @AlvinofDiaspar from July 2006 that gives just a hint of what's holding this thing up (you have to imagine how much more there is hidden behind the skin of the west crystal):

View attachment 176254

There are a pile of those multi-i-beam connection points in there…

42
Click to expand...
Think of it as a giant steel mine.
 
interchange42 said:
Here's a shot by @AlvinofDiaspar from July 2006 that gives just a hint of what's holding this thing up (you have to imagine how much more there is hidden behind the skin of the west crystal)
42
Click to expand...

Old photo from 12 years ago on a 5MP Sony Cybershot that get bested by the cheapest phone now. How far we've come! Anyways - good old Lisa Rochon once waxed poetic about the possibilities in the future:

www.theglobeandmail.com

Crystal scatters no light

Daniel Libeskind's brutal vision of emptiness works for Berlin, but not for Toronto
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com

Ripping out the drywall, stripping the fireproofing and repainting the steel structure with intumescent paint would be very fine indeed.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Old photo from 12 years ago on a 5MP Sony Cybershot that get bested by the cheapest phone now. How far we've come! Anyways - good old Lisa Rochon once waxed poetic about the possibilities in the future:

www.theglobeandmail.com

Crystal scatters no light

Daniel Libeskind's brutal vision of emptiness works for Berlin, but not for Toronto
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com

Ripping out the drywall, stripping the fireproofing and repainting the steel structure with intumescent paint would be very fine indeed.

AoD
Click to expand...

The ROM has got to be reinvisioned to better fulfill its original vision, it's by no means Libeskind's best work.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top