"The Torontonians were bold, and never asked me to calm it down," Mr. Libeskind said. "They understood that they wanted to assert that the ROM is an important museum and wanted the boldness of that vision to be realized. It will become part of the city fabric, no doubt about it."

Thank goodness somebody is challenging the myth that we are a timid city, with architecture to match.
 
Over the years, buildings as diverse as Old City Hall, Casa Loma, the TD Centre, Scarborough College and OCAD have laid that myth to rest; Torontonians accept buildings that stand out against their quieter contextual neighbours and this one follows in that tradition.
 
Two photos of ROM's Food Studio, located at B1 level on the west side of the ROM. Looks like a nice modern cafeteria, but it's hidden away from the rest of the museum. Add to that some very overpriced fast food, Food Studio looks like a "recipe" for disaster.

P1080823.jpg


P1080824.jpg
 
wyliepoon said:
Two photos of ROM's Food Studio, located at B1 level on the west side of the ROM. Looks like a nice modern cafeteria, but it's hidden away from the rest of the museum. Add to that some very overpriced fast food, Food Studio looks like a "recipe" for disaster.

P1080823.jpg


P1080824.jpg
Click to expand...

Museum cafes are overpriced the world o'er...
 
Looks interesting.... and large. One of the museum cafe's in New York's Natural History Museum was tiny compared to this...
 
The Food Studio does look interesting, but too bad it's overpriced - but McDonald's is right across the street, as is Pizza Hut (for a limited time only).

The museum cafe at the Getty Center in LA was a nice surpise - an interesting menu (variations on your typical fast food fare) at quite reasonable prices (at a museum with free admission). Was a nice change.
 
I had a look around yesterday. Loved it.

Love the Crystal's subtle 5 degree incline. Love the Spirit House: looking up is quite disorienting and the walkways look as if they're inclined, though they're not. Love the sound installation there too - crickets chirping, whispers, strange sounds etc.

What a treat to get such unique spaces to enjoy. They won't detract from the exhibits. The soaring roof and angles in the Sugimoto exhibition certainly didn't.

I like how the Crystal confounds expectations - we don't get an open central atrium with elevators zipping up and down, for instance, but an entrance with a low ceiling that suddenly opens up to a courtyard, and some interesting voids ( Stair of Wonders and Spirit House ) with myriad perspectives.

Only a few criticisms:

*The metal panelling with exposed screw-heads in the Stair of Wonders. What's that about? Drywall would have been more consistent, would have worked perfectly well.
* The metal catwalks pop up and can trip people.
* Little Wonder: a few more Wonders on display in the stair would've made the concept more accurate.

Loved the ukiyo-e exhibition downstairs. I'm going back to that one time and time again. The colour combinations of the costumes worn in the paintings are so gorgeous. Less impressed by the Sugimoto show, though I thought the seascapes lovely.

I think the baby-changing stations in the washrooms should've been free-standing and made of steel - not those flip-down things in the wall. Libeskind should've designed them. Nienkamper could've sold them for $12,000.
 
Was that your first time in, Shocker?

I find it reassuring that the only things that really bugged me about the thing are the ones that are easily fixed, like the metal panelling and (to a lesser extent) the grates. I was also enchanted by the fact that the definition of "Wonder" in the Stair of Wonders extends to "tin soldiers."

Also, in the gift shop, someone wrote a neat little book about the history of the building and its additions. I quite enjoyed that.
 
Do my eyes deceive me or is that Winston Smith, slumped over his Victory Gin, in the far distance of the Food Studio photo?

I'm being spirited off to C5 one of these days, not sure when. All the restaurants in the ROM are run by the same company, Restaurant Associates, which hires local chefs. The Rotunda Cafe seemed passable enough when I went.
 
After one visit, I retain a strong mental image of how the interior spaces work, how the galleries are oriented to one another, the logic of housing related collections in adjacent galleries, and the logical flow through from the Crystal to the related collections housed in the 1914 west wing and the 1934 east wing. Even though the permanent collections aren't installed yet I know what-will-go-where, and why.

There are fewer, and larger, galleries in the Crystal than there were in the Terrace Galleries it replaces - which always seemed a maze of undistinguished rooms. But the Ming Tomb structures were, I think, arranged better in the Terrace Galleries than they are now in the new Chinese Galleries that opened in 2005.

I like how the original wings have been renovated so far - by uncovering the windows and restoring the grandeur of those spaces. I like how the exterior of those wings has been laid open to view from inside the Crystal. The connectedness between the Crystal and the older parts of the building makes the place more comprehensible as a whole.

I think we'll see much the same logic applied at the AGO, where design is revealed as a process to solve problems rather than an added stylistic frill to make things look pretty.
 
Photos by Sir Novelty Fashion

Taken from his original thread to be found here:
http://urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?t=5935

Meanwhile, next door, someone's gone and built the damndest thing on Bloor St.


No wonder they need to signpost C5: the entrance is the strangest little hatchway built into the side of the west crystal, marked only by a shadow paved into the ground:


The ROM hoarding is still falling off in chunks, like scabs off a healing wound. On the West side, they've revealed a funny little concrete terrace-area. I love this stuff, these little nooks.


On the edge of ROM Plaza, people make use of unadorned concrete furniture


Construction is ongoing. Through the windows, you can see that scaffolds have re-colonised some of the galleries. Landscaping on the east side is still going, with some hoarding still up. And the edges of the crystal are still cordoned off.
 
T. rex looks quite happy in his new home on the second floor. He's got a nice view of the snack food walking along Bloor.

His guardian told us that, based on the comments he's heard, the older museum visitors are generally unhappy with the Crystal, but the younger crowd loves it. When Ron ( who is 61 ) and I spoke enthusiastically about the beautiful and unique spaces Libeskind has created for the collections he looked surprised ... and delighted.

The paperweights are pretty. The mysterious, smoky Black Star bauble doesn't do much for me though. Give me a big glam rock and I'm happy. We had another look around the ukiyo-e show on B2 and the Sugimoto exhibition.

Earlier, we saw the Chinese export ceramics show at the Gardiner. One of the staff pointed out that, relative to the 1950's and '60's, there will be fewer items on display in the new ROM when it is fully installed. She also bemoaned the fact that there is so much text attached to the ROM's new displays. "What will illiterate people do?" she asked. Well, look I guess ...
 
One of the staff pointed out that, relative to the 1950's and '60's, there will be fewer items on display in the new ROM when it is fully installed.
Click to expand...

I thought that one of the reasons to expand was to display more of the collection?

One of my criticisms of the ROM was that they didn't provide enough text so I'm happy to hear that they have upgraded the exhibits with more introduction and explanation. Indeed what possible difference does it make to illiterate patrons if there is text or no text.
 
Bogtrotter said:
I thought that one of the reasons to expand was to display more of the collection?
Click to expand...

Sometimes less is more. That said, the British Museum has a good mix of rooms where some are stacked to the ceiling with artifacts and others are quite sparse. Not that the ROM's collection is in the same league.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top