Glimpses from opening night:

The arts set gathered to meet and greet in the 'Spirit House'...
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As well as some glittering celebrities. Here comes Marnie McBean!
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Unfortunately, Robert Fulford got lost while looking for the washroom and missed the ribbon cutting....
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Meanwhile, attendees enjoyed some musical entertainment...
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And a burlesque show.
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Very funny, CN. Fulford. Heh.

And AoD: thanks for the link. I was thinking about the Thom proposal the other day. I was a student journalist in 2002 when the winner was announced, and covered the story then... five years already.

I'm still not entirely sure they made the right call on this one. The Thom design would have created a magnificent ceremonial space, the kind that defines a city as much as a museum. I haven't seen inside the crystal yet, but I worry that it will be claustrophobic.

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SNF:

I still have clippings from the Globe back in 2002 on the project :)

Anyways, re: Bing Thom - I was actually a fan his original proposal before the first cut - unfortunately, I felt his design was compromised by the time the final designs were unveiled. For example, the smooth roofline was broken by the blocky restaurant addition; unsightly V support columns, etc.

I have a copy of the technical report on Bing Thom's proposal (10MB) with plans, diagrams, renderings and model photography, if anyone wanted it, I might be able to figure something out.

AoD
 
The location of the tonally different areas of cladding - applied in blocks in some areas, more scattered in others - appears to indicate which sections were made fom which die lots. There are only two variations, not a range of them. There must have been a point at which the manufacturer realized they'd failed to achieve uniformity - none of the renderings suggested there would be variations, and from a design point of view there is no logic to their placement - but went ahead anyway. The cover story is that they are within an acceptable range and will age, in time, to look the same. Does anyone here know the process well enough to explain what happened - were two machines spewing these panels out at the same time, and nobody thought to compare the end result?
 
I spent some time there on Saturday and I think this will, after the CN and City Hall, be the most photographed building in the city. I saw 8 people taking shots in the 10 minutes I spent there.
 
I was one of at least a dozen. I also came across two gentlemen who were hotly debating the merits of the Crystal's architecture.

I also wasn't the only one photographing BA either.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
MetroMan:



Are you sure that's all said and done though? The concrete could very well just be the base for the plaza paving.

AoD
Click to expand...

I don't know for sure Alvin, but I suspect with just a couple weeks to go, they don't have the time to do any type of elaborate paving. It's a shame but one can always be optimistic that this is simply a quick solution for the opening and then they'll get on to something nicer once they get back to work.
 
MetroMan:

I am fairly optimistic - stone paving happens rather quickly once the base is done; a case in point being the CCBR forecourt clad in granite.

I do hope I am right about this one.

AoD
 
We're ranting and raving about a very expensive and prominent avant garde building with a lot of public money in it and some amount of civic pride riding on it...

...and that's what this forum is all about. If that's sad to you, what are you doing here?

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