They’re also still working away at the Bloor plaza.

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Wait that glass wasn't there before was it ?
 
Interesting angle- are they storing the removed slats on the rooftop? That might put an end to any hopes of a better facade treatment.
 
I love it how the ROM spent millions building that random fourth "cube" in the middle of the building that is essentially invisible from everywhere, but then cheapened out on the cladding systems.. Talk about priorities. If they needed to value engineer the thing they should have just made that a more traditional shape and sunk the savings to get some good quality cladding. Would have probably resulted in more useful and functional interior spaces to boot.
 
innsertnamehere said:
I love it how the ROM spent millions building that random fourth "cube" in the middle of the building that is essentially invisible from everywhere, but then cheapened out on the cladding systems.. Talk about priorities. If they needed to value engineer the thing they should have just made that a more traditional shape and sunk the savings to get some good quality cladding. Would have probably resulted in more useful and functional interior spaces to boot.
Click to expand...

Truthfully, anything other than 2 that visible on the Bloor frontage never really represented 'value'.

The showy bit had the potential to be useful; particularly in gaining international attention and being a talking piece.

That potential never existed further back in the structure.

That they didn't really realize that potential on a number of fronts, discussed here at some length (front entrance, cramped/awkward lobby, bland/blank stairs, functional layout issues, and cladding) is a separate matter; except to say, some savings in a smaller area of 'specialty' architecture might, as you have noted, freed up money to address some of these other issues.
 
I truly believe that the ROM crystal is going to be vindicated over time. Future generations will not understand how some people were calling for it to be removed like how Parisians hated the Eiffel Tower and fought to have it taken down.

The concept of a crystalline structure over the restored historical building was sound. The incredibly complex engineering execution was accomplished but then they ran out of budget to deliver on the details. Over time, those details can be refined. The Stair of Wonders can be reimagined as a true vertical gallery, interior drywalling throughout can be replaced with nicer materials and yes, the outer cladding replaced with even coloured slats.

Restoring and reopening the Queen’s Park rotunda and entrance was a great start. The new Bloor forecourt and its connection to Philosophers Walk is leading the way to a new arrival experience. This leads to repurposing the ROM store into a cafe which will be followed by opening up the Spirit Room as a central circulation space.

My only hope is that when moving on to replacing the south terrace building that they go back to Libeskind to deliver on the south crystal so that there’s a coherent design.
 
It’s not a given that because the Eiffel Tower was first disliked by many Parisians and later became an icon, the Liebeskind Crystal will be vindicated over time. A closer analog is Liebeskind’s Denver Art Museum, from which the Crystal borrows heavily. Here’s the NYT review after it opened:

www.nytimes.com

A Razor-Sharp Profile Cuts Into a Mile-High Cityscape (Published 2006)

Bold forms and tortured geometries dominate Daniel Libeskind’s addition to the Denver Art Museum, creating mesmerizing architecture and a daunting place to install or view art.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

I’d draw your attention to the specific criticism of the structure as a space to view artefacts:

“In a building of canted walls and asymmetrical rooms - tortured geometries generated by purely formal considerations - it is virtually impossible to enjoy the art.”

The same could be said of our Denver knock off.
 
I don't think time will save the fact that the interior program of this museum is heavily burdened by the odd shapes of the walls. The Denver Art Museum is arguably even worse. If you look at a floorplan it's riddled with dead ends, awkward corners and triangle shaped galleries. Compare that to something like Gehry's Louis Vuitton Foundation that is able to not only look unique (and spectacular) from the outside, but also functions quite successfully as an art museum (thanks in part to a logical program).
 
Contra said:
I don't think time will save the fact that the interior program of this museum is heavily burdened by the odd shapes of the walls.
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Artificats don’t have to be hung on walls. The ROM has demonstrated that beautifully. I love the showcases. You can walk all around and see the items from every angle. It even works well in the galleries in the historic wings.

Contra said:
The Denver Art Museum is arguably even worse. If you look at a floorplan it's riddled with dead ends, awkward corners and triangle shaped galleries.
Click to expand...

The dead ends are created by the south terrace building. The original Renaissance ROM plan called for open circulation to fix the dead ends that existed since the 80s. By cutting the south crystal, they gave up on that goal. It’s as if they built half of a running track and left walls at the ends of the half. They need to finish the project by replacing the south terrace with a building that connects to the crystal’s open ends — preferably with another crystal.
 
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This photo taken soon after The Crystal opening shows how the engineering challenges to build the Crystal sucked up all the budget leaving very little for the details.

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And this rendering shows how the ROM is filling in the details to correct those shortcomings.

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Together, they’re perfectly illustrative of where the ROM finds itself and where it’s going.

I have faith in Renaissance ROM reaching its potential and the crystal becoming a beloved Toronto icon, even if a decade late.
 
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