So is there a thread on the Art Gallery already? Can't seem to find any. Anyways, this project is underway. Too lazy to find any final renders....

November 16, 2005
http://static.flickr.com/29/65760065_aa5108f71f_b.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/24/65760008_d11fd5eab8_b.jpg

http://www.ago.net/transformation/building-images/9.13.04/full2/north-east.jpg

http://www.ago.net/transformation/building-images/9.13.04/full2/north-west.jpg

http://www.ago.net/transformation/building-images/9.13.04/full2/north.jpg

http://www.ago.net/transformation/building-images/8.05.04/south-west-facade-lg.jpg

http://www.ago.net/transformation/building-images/8.05.04/south-facade-grange-lg.jpg

Its going to be great!

I still think it looks pretty bad...the exterior, anyways.

I like the design. It's different, and variety is what T.O. needs.

From this angle view I think it looks retarded:

http://www.ago.net/transformation/building-images/8.05.04/south-facade-grange-lg.jpg

I like it too

Great from the front but it obnoxiously looms over the Grange.

It's unjustifiable that they are tearing down a practically brand new building to make way for this! Why not save as much of the new building as possible? After all, tax receipts were issued to those who donated to have the building built in the first place-- and it's by a world famous architect! As tax receipts were issued, all taxpayers, admittedly indirectly, help pay for the about -to -be -torn -down new building. Further, there is no doubt that the province chipped in a bit of money as well. Hey, I hate this AGO barn and think it's a piece of crap - thought so from the start. But, at least it's paid for! Save it! Take the AGO to the sidewalk- Build around it, through it, above it, but save as much of it as possible! It's damn new!

It's darn well irresponsible for a public gallery to write off a brand new car and damned a new one!

Questions:
1, Will it be "on time and on budget?"
2, How long before a condo sneaks into this (to help pay for it)?
3, Will there be a backlash about tearing down a brand new building? (Or, has the backlash already occurred-- see the split and internal spat that broke out when the design first came out -- where benefactors who paid for the mid 1990's building were justifiably furious)

I really like it, both front and back.

I love the glassy exterior on Dundas street. A great improvement over the current hockey arena/barn facade. I think the box portion looks rather average but Grange Park would look very interesting with views of OCAD and this.

I love it :D.

I still think it looks pretty bad...the exterior, anyways.

I completely agree. I saw schemes put out through the design process, and all I'll say is that they should have stopped well before it came to this.

Barton Myers is pissed I'm sure, but it really was crap pomo, and sometimes you need to amputate, regardless of what it costs or who gets pissed off....this is one of those times.

Tacking on another architect's work would have been one too many (AGO is basically add-ons all the way from the old Grange house from 1817 ). Just as important as big names and facades, is the fact that the interior needed a complete overhaul.

I'm really glad he got away from the titanium/Bilbao look for AGO....it would have just been so derivative at this point. This bent wood/glass look is more of his earlier influence, and is actually more "Canadian" looking. It reminds me of his bent wood chairs for Knoll named after hockey terms.

My guess is people would have just cried "copy" if it were another Bilbao, but people will be talking about this one as a breath of fresh air from him (and yes...it's all about Frank...you didn't think it wouldn't be did you? ).







"How long before a condo sneaks into this (to help pay for it)? "


Hey....when you have Ken Thomson, you don't need condos.






KGB

KGB, I agree that the AGO barn is crap. But it is so new! It's hard to justify tearing it down so soon after construction. Save some of it!
What happens in 10 years to the current design? Do we tear it down because it has an ugly ass- end overlooking the park? Or do we say, "Hey! It's a Ghery!"

"It's hard to justify tearing it down so soon after construction. "


It's very easy...they simply made a mistake. And they decided to fix it. Sometimes mistakes cost ya big to fix....doesn't always mean you don't do it.

Those 80's kitchens work perfectly fine....and look like shit. That's why people change them.






KGB

Could they be making a mistake again?
Perhaps the mid 1990's crapy barn the wolrd famous Barton Myers designed is a reflection of the period in which it was built-- perhaps an art gallery, if it is a hodge - podge of styles and various buildings- should preserve even horrbile expansions, such as the barn (that people went on and on about how great this piece of crap is.)

The AGO is gong to look to slash costs, of that there is no doubt! So, let's slash by saving as much of the shitty barn as possible! Build the glass canopy from the shit barn! Go to the sidewalk! Build the AGO from corner to corner aong Dundas! JUST SAVE THIS LOUSY BARN!

"""""Just as important as big names and facades, is the fact that the interior needed a complete overhaul.""""""

No doubt...it has had one too many facelifts...i would rather see the whole thing demolished

if the AGO built this extension so soon after the Barn, it is also becasue they had take take advance of the Prov.-Fed. capital program... They won't come back with that much money before long and one of the requirement was to have your building done by 2008. I totally agree that it might be a waste but (a) the barn was shit from the beginning and (b) AGO had to take advantage of the money from the Conservative gvt when it was available (remember that this came after years of cuts in operating funding by the Harris gvt).

"""""Just as important as big names and facades, is the fact that the interior needed a complete overhaul.""""""

No doubt...it has had one too many facelifts...i would rather see the whole thing demolished

1. But why not save this mid 1990's Myers shit? Is the Ghery not also shit?
2. Why redo all the interior? Redo part of it? OK. Assign new uses to what is built? Sure. Tear down and redo all of it? NO!
if the AGO built this extension so soon after the Barn, it is also because they had take take advance of the Prov.-Fed. capital program... They won't come back with that much money before long and one of the requirement was to have your building done by 2008. I totally agree that it might be a waste but (a) the barn was shit from the beginning and (b) AGO had to take advantage of the money from the Conservative gvt when it was available (remember that this came after years of cuts in operating funding by the Harris gvt).

By all means, grab the cash when it's on the table! But let's face facts: The project will need to be cheaped out- so given that, let's cheap out by saving as much of this crappie barn as possible.

Why replace the crap Myers with shit Ghery? ?
That is to ask: Why replace one mistake with another?

Why replace the crap Myers with shit Ghery? ?
That is to ask: Why replace one mistake with another? [/QUOTE]

You make an excellent point. Two wrongs don't make a right.
I think most people would rather have seen the existing building
sold and re-used for another purpose, with a brand new AGO
built in a new location.

What a pathetic excuse for architecture. Too bad really. The AGO is such a venerable institution, I'd hate to see it spoiled by such a disaster.

i actually really like it... its quite good considering what they had to deal with before. i think i'll hold my thoughts on the design until we see it finished though...

I agree the interior needed a reconfiguration as well.

Why? Perhaps a bit of a reconfiguration- but tear down what is brand new?

Brand new? It's ten years old! A lot of the space, if I remember correctly wasn't very efficiently laid out, and it'd be easier to reconfigure from scratch. Plus, the new part was fugly.

Brand new? It's ten years old! A lot of the space, if I remember correctly wasn't very efficiently laid out, and it'd be easier to reconfigure from scratch. Plus, the new part was fugly.
Good point about the barn being crap, samsonyuen.

But it is paid for! Paid for, directly by taxpayers, in the form of handing over government cheques directly to the AGO, and indirectly, through tax - deductible donations!

Why not save it? I agree the barn is cappy, no doubt. I recall people were going on and on about how great this crap barn is when it opened, a mere 10 years ago or so.

TWO QUESTIONS, sort of :

1. What if the Ghery addition turns on not-so-great? What if in 10 years time, it looks dated (and I bet it will)? I ask again: Why replace one mistake with another?
I'd rather 'compound' mistakes, by adding on the Ghery mistake to the Myers mistake! We know that there are going to be money issues, so let's think about saving money from the get-go, rather than being stuck without enough money half way through construction. Build above ,. on top,. and through, but save as much as possible! Heck, turn what is now an exterior wall into an interior wall. Just save it!

2, Will we be tearing down the ROM in 10 years or less?

I know where you're coming from. Maybe if we kept it, we could use the money, and just build more with it. But I think if we started from scratch, in the long run, it would make the AGO a better institution. Instead of putting band-aids, we're opting for surgery.

I know where you're coming from. Maybe if we kept it, we could use the money, and just build more with it. But I think if we started from scratch, in the long run, it would make the AGO a better institution. Instead of putting band-aids, we're opting for surgery.
Yes, I think this is exactly what he is getting at. Plus, the
embarassing truth is that they are not really gaining much gallery
space anyhow....
I would rather have seen them wait, and sell the current location. Trying
to get anything built in that neighbourhood is like trying to fly to the moon.

I would've preferred a spinoff location for a contemporary art museum myself.

My real concern is that nowhere near the end of construction, the money will run out, and there will be massive cost overruns and delays- overruns and delays that could be avoided by preserving as much of the shitty Meyers expansion so that the potentially mistaken Ghery addition can actually bo completed, rather than have some sudden 'cheep out' decisions made, simply to finish the project, rather than be stuck with a Bay Adelaide Stump at the AGO -
That is to say,
1, I have doubts about the Ghery project! I want the project to succeed, but doubt that it will be built, on time and on budget, and therefore,
2, I suggest costs can be reduced by saving, or making more use of, the lousy Merys expansion.
3 (Are we gong to tear down the Ghery within 10 years of completion?)

Are Be, you should relax.

No one is going to be tearing down the new ROM or AGO expansions in ten years. The Myers expansion at the AGO and the courtyard expansion at the ROM were both crap architecture with low budgets. Libeskind and Gehry (that's how you spell it) are far more talented architects than either of the designers of the previous expansions.
Wait until the buildings are done to make your judgement. You'll probably be pleasantly suprised by both.

The strange part is...I don't think are be is the slightest bit interested in art.

As interesting as the new architecture of the building will be, I'm much more interested in seeing the new exibits.







KGB

KGB,
That's not true! When I travel, I do go to art galleries! That's part of the reason why I know Canadian art is crap and does not approach international standards. Go to Paris and London, and see for yourself how the European Impressionists kick the crap out of the second rate Group of Seven.

There is some Canadian art in the Louvre (SP?): something that is all disfigured and out of proportion -- painted by a Canadian boarder guard working at Niagara Falls, -- who didn't know how to paint- thus resulting in overly long hands, etc. So, by being lousy, a Canadian has his work in one of the most prestigious galleries in the world!

...
No one is going to be tearing down the new ROM or AGO expansions in ten years. The Myers expansion at the AGO and the courtyard expansion at the ROM were both crap architecture with low budgets. Libeskind and Gehry (that's how you spell it) are far more talented architects than either of the designers of the previous expansions.
....
1, I am certain that both expansions will be good, but that the final result will not be as planned, because the projects will go WELL OVER BUDGET !
2, However, I recall when the ugly barn by Myers opens up, everybody was going on and on about how great this crap is.
3, It's difficult to justify tearing down a 10 year old building when that building is part of a public institution-- You can't have it both ways- claim that the arts are under funded, and then go around tearing down 10 year old buildings!
4, If we're dumb enough to tear down the Myers expansions - a very new expansion, then , perhaps we will be opened minded to tearing down the Gehry and the ROM expansion shortly after their completion as well- stupid, but we're doing it now!
5, There was a story in the Star abut 10 days ago about how Toronto's cultural projects are over budget, and who we need (get this) the feds to step in! :lol !!!

That's not true! When I travel, I do go to art galleries! That's part of the reason why I know Canadian art is crap and does not approach international standards. Go to Paris and London, and see for yourself how the European Impressionists kick the crap out of the second rate Group of Seven.
Only a person who doesn't have a clue about art could make statements like these. I didn't realize that art was a competition; moreover, a full contact sport. Uh yeah, okay. I'd ask you to explain your position, but I really don't need to be subjected to more crap. Once again, thanks for being the voice of lunacy.

"There is some Canadian art in the Louvre (SP?)"

The reason RB can't spell the museum's name is because the only "Impressionists" he's seen in Paris were at Musee D'Orsay... he went there to catch a train.

thanks for being the voice of lunacy.
You don't need to thank him for providing that service at no-charge any more than you need to thank the guy on the street for being crazy in the park. They're more than happy to do it.

"That's not true! When I travel, I do go to art galleries! That's part of the reason why I know Canadian art is crap and does not approach international standards."


Oh man...I'm actually starting to feel embarrassed for you.






"Go to Paris and London, and see for yourself how the European Impressionists kick the crap out of the second rate Group of Seven."


Well, you don't actually have to go there...the AGO, which you are so up in arms about, and have never been to, nor plan to ever be to, has all of them in one place. And to be honest, next to the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre, the GO7 room is my favorite.

The reason they aren't second rate at all, is because they began painting the Canadian landscape in a uniquely Canadian way, rather than just monkey the european way of painting.






KGB

KGB,
That's not true! When I travel, I do go to art galleries! That's part of the reason why I know Canadian art is crap and does not approach international standards. Go to Paris and London, and see for yourself how the European Impressionists kick the crap out of the second rate Group of Seven.

There is some Canadian art in the Louvre (SP?): something that is all disfigured and out of proportion -- painted by a Canadian boarder guard working at Niagara Falls, -- who didn't know how to paint- thus resulting in overly long hands, etc. So, by being lousy, a Canadian has his work in one of the most prestigious galleries in the world!


1, I am certain that both expansions will be good, but that the final result will not be as planned, because the projects will go WELL OVER BUDGET !
2, However, I recall when the ugly barn by Myers opens up, everybody was going on and on about how great this crap is.
3, It's difficult to justify tearing down a 10 year old building when that building is part of a public institution-- You can't have it both ways- claim that the arts are under funded, and then go around tearing down 10 year old buildings!
4, If we're dumb enough to tear down the Myers expansions - a very new expansion, then , perhaps we will be opened minded to tearing down the Gehry and the ROM expansion shortly after their completion as well- stupid, but we're doing it now!
5, There was a story in the Star abut 10 days ago about how Toronto's cultural projects are over budget, and who we need (get this) the feds to step in! :lol !!!
It is a shame you can not appreciate works of the Group of Seven. As a painter myself, I can assure you they are masterful colourists with smooth control. The paintings evoke mood, and that is the point. If you do see or feel that, then you are simply missing the part of the brain that controls those areas. To bad, you're really missing out on something special.

The reason RB can't spell the museum's name is because the only "Impressionists" he's seen in Paris were at Musee D'Orsay... he went there to catch a train.

Hilarious!!!

It is a shame you can not appreciate works of the Group of Seven. As a painter myself, I can assure you they are masterful colourists with smooth control. The paintings evoke mood, and that is the point. If you do see or feel that, then you are simply missing the part of the brain that controls those areas. To bad, you're really missing out on something special.
Well, Monet is nothing to sneeze at -(not claiming you're saying)- and, I would suggest, vastly superior viz. Canadian artists, as are all the European masters- as any trip to Paris or London would reveal. I'm sure the Group of Seven are right up there with anything Australia has to offer, but they are not French Impressionists!

There are NO Group of Seven paintings in the Louvre, and this is BY DESIGN- By CHOICE - the Louvre has considered the Group of Seven, and the fact is, this truly world- class art gallery - judged the Group of Seven wanting. The highly regarded experts of the internally renowned and respected Louvre ( and the expertise of those running it cannot be questioned by those who don't work in internationally acclaimed galleries) have, by and large, with a few noteworthy exceptions that prove the rule (caused by the ignorance and inability of the painter) rejected Canadian art.

There is very little Canadian art in the Louvre, which, in my opinion, speaks volumes not only about the quality of Canadian art, but also about how Canadians are educated / brain washed to declare things that are passable as spectacular, on the grounds that the passable object is made by a Canadian.
I still say the crap barn should be saved, so that the new expansions wown't be cheaped out as much- that is to say, since there's going to be a cheap out on the yet- to be- build expansion to the AGO, might as well make the cheap out the saving the brand new AGO addition.

Maybe the point is:"De gustibus non est disputandum" :cheers1:

Ah Vermeer...

hehehe

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/istrian/Copyofsurgeon.jpg

Look a the superb quality of that painting! That's not Canadian, that's for damn sure!

Look a the superb quality of that painting! That's not Canadian, that's for damn sure!

Oh well,...may be even Johannes Vermeer...but you never know...
maybe that's even 'van Rijn', certainly not Bosch...and surely not
...van der Bathurst...

Look a the superb quality of that painting! That's not Canadian, that's for damn sure!

oh man, that's a pretty good point. Here I'll sketch a stick man and that can be more like Canadian architecture. I'll be sure to use the cheapest paper I can find and use some shitty crayon. Then I'll just let it sit on the floor until it turns to shit.

Regan

Looking to get on to CBC?

Looking to get on to CBC?

LOL. that was mean. LOL but so true.

Well, if you need to go to an institution, pay an entry fee, and let them tell you what good art is, then I would say you aren't very art savy.

Not knocking the Looooooove or anything, but I've been more enlightened by art walking down Queen West every sunday afternoon over the last few years.






KGB

....
There are NO Group of Seven paintings in the Louvre, and this is BY DESIGN- By CHOICE - the Louvre has considered the Group of Seven, and the fact is, this truly world- class art gallery - judged the Group of Seven wanting. The highly regarded experts of the internally renowned and respected Louvre ( and the expertise of those running it cannot be questioned by those who don't work in internationally acclaimed galleries) have, by and large, with a few noteworthy exceptions that prove the rule (caused by the ignorance and inability of the painter) rejected Canadian art.
[/b]

hmmm...Are Be, you are absolutely right about No Group of Seven paintings in the Louvre...however, it is not because of the quality. Here's the real reason why you will never ever find a Grp of 7 painting in the Louvre, and in fact, no French Impressionists' either (quoting the Director of Louvre, here):
"The cut-off point for the Louvre's collection is 1848—a crucial year in French and world history—but the museum is by no means an institution of the past. Since 1989, when the Grand Louvre project doubled our gallery space, we have continued to forge ahead with new plans and ideas."

The oldest Grp of 7 painters JEH Macdonald's birthday was 1873....

Maybe d'Orsay, but never the Louvre.
Besides, who really wants to let go of such lovely works of art! :)

...and Istrian, I am surprised that your post was not taken down by the forum admin.... :eek2:

Any updates on this one-of-a-kind instant cultural landmark? Strangely enough this has become my favourite project in TO.

Any updates on this one-of-a-kind instant cultural landmark? Strangely enough this has become my favourite project in TO.

Nothing major has happened but the former main entrance has been demolished and they are continually demolishing and removing the north wall. It'll be a while until the new addition structural work will start.

..But the blue titanium clad tower thing at the back has nothing to do with the demolition, so I'm just wondering if they've started work on that? I haven't seen the AGO site at all for about 2 years, I'd love to go now, ASAP and see this cultural landmark be reborn.

There is very little Canadian art in the Louvre, which, in my opinion, speaks volumes not only about the quality of Canadian art, but also about how Canadians are educated / brain washed to declare things that are passable as spectacular, on the grounds that the passable object is made by a Canadian.

Which in turn speaks volumes on what you don't know about art. Just out of curiosity, what is your background in art? And I don't mean the crayon-level articles you might have read here or there. To accuse people who have different tastes than your (should you actually have tastes of your own, or some taste at all, for that matter) as being brain washed is the height of false snobbishness, which is exactly the attitude that too many Europeans have towards Canadian and North American art, and one which you clearly share. And what do you mean by "passable"? On what standards are you making this judgment? Dollar figures? Fame of a given piece or of an artist? Your extensive knowledge of art history and aesthetics?

No, Canada does not have a huge collection of Canadian-made art, but it is a relatively young nation. Anyone with a small sense of history could have figured that out.

Stick to your typical and repetitive "screwball european" transit remarks, or your blind and thoughtless pro-conservative diatribes (if one can actually elevate them to that level), so that I can know when to skip your juvenile blitherings.

A large crane has gone up for the tower portion of the ROM.

What tower portion!?!?!?!
I know, the one that's going to help pay for the Crystal, etc, but the tower is killed!

What tower portion!?!?!?!
I know, the one that's going to help pay for the Crystal, etc, but the tower is killed!
The 3 storey titanium block thing at the back. Not really a tower but it's significantly taller than its surroundings cause of its high ceiling heights.

The 3 storey titanium block thing at the back. Not really a tower but it's significantly taller than its surroundings cause of its high ceiling heights.
Damn i got excitied for a minute! :runaway:

Damn i got excitied for a minute! :runaway:
What's so exciting about a 3 storey titanium block?:D
In it's entirety this project is just kickass, btw, I'll be going to the AGO on Friday, they have an exhibition on this expansion, so I'll try and get as much info as I can.

Also, a brand new painting will be the showcase of this expansion - Peter Paul Rubens' Massacre of the innocents. This Baroque masterpiece is one of the most valuable paintings ever sold, at around 150 million$!!! Thank you Kenneth Thomson, for this extremely valuable addition to the AGO!
http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/Rubens-Massacre_of_the_Innocents-1609-11.jpg

Live webcam of the AGO now available:

http://www.ago.net/transformation/changes.cfm

[QUOTE=Filip]What's so exciting about a 3 storey titanium block?:D
In it's entirety this project is just kickass, btw, I'll be going to the AGO on Friday, they have an exhibition on this expansion, so I'll try and get as much info as I can.

Also, a brand new painting will be the showcase of this expansion - Peter Paul Rubens' Massacre of the innocents. This Baroque masterpiece is one of the most valuable paintings ever sold, at around 150 million$!!! Thank you Kenneth Thomson, for this extremely valuable addition to the AGO!
QUOTE]
I agree it is time to thank Thomson... it is true that after a lifetime of
accumulating wealth in Toronto that he was not a great philanthropist, but
in the past decade he has truly stepped forward and meeting the challenge.
For a man who is one of the world's wealthiest, I hope this is just the tip
of the iceberg and that he will play even a greater role amongst local
philanthropists. This may encourage a few of the newer and very powerful Torontonians (whose names I shall not mention) who are reluctant to part with their charity dollars in our fair city.

http://i.today.reuters.com/misc/genImage.aspx?uri=2006-02-14T210934Z_01_NOOTR_RTRIDSP_2_NEWS-ARTS-CANADA-GEHRY-COL.jpg&resize=full
World-renowned Canadian architect Frank Gehry, seen in this file photo, as he looks through one of the models showing his grand staircase design for the transformation of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), at a press conference in Toronto, January 28, 2004. REUTERS/Mike Cassese


Touch of titanium won't transform Toronto: Gehry
Tue Feb 14, 2006 3:45 PM EST166
By Rachelle Younglai

TORONTO (Reuters) - High profile building projects won't transform Toronto into an architectural hot spot, and the city missed a chance by building lines of condos along its waterfront, star architect Frank Gehry said on Tuesday.

Toronto-born Gehry, best known for Bilbao's undulating titanium clad Guggenheim Museum, said his redesign of Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario would not transform the city.

"Bilbao ... was an industrial town and they consciously tried to change the character of the town and they succeeded. I was only one part of it," he told reporters.

"When you come to a city that is established and all, it's hard to say that you are going to have the same kind of impact because there is already a persona in Toronto and it has its own character. So one little remodeling of an old building isn't going to turn the whole community around."

The C$195 million Toronto project, to be completed in 2008, will boost the Art Gallery's exhibition space by some 40 percent and transform the building into a showpiece structure with a titanium and glass facade and an asymmetrical baroque staircase.

The staircase, visible from outside, will wind through a glass column toward two new contemporary art displays.

The scaffolding, beams and wire fences surrounding the art gallery is just one of many construction sites in a city that is going through a bit of an architecture renaissance.

No less than six cultural institutions are being renovated in Canada's most populous city, including a new opera house in the heart of the financial district and a crystalline addition to the Royal Ontario Museum by Daniel Libeskind, who built the haunting Jewish Museum in Berlin.

"It could help, but at the same time they are building condo after condo along the waterfront," said Gehry, dismissing the high-rises that line the shores of Lake Ontario.

"It's like every other community, there's very little social planning it seems to be more a world of opportunism and entertainment... It doesn't feel right, but I think I am just fuddy duddy because of my age."

But Gehry, 77, admitted that redesigning Toronto's art gallery, was a poignant homecoming.

Gehry grew up just blocks from the Art Gallery of Ontario and used to play in the park by the building. He also says the museum provided his first experience with art as a child.

"I remember the days when I lived here as a kid, it was easy to get around," he said.

"There's a nice feeling about Toronto, but I think it's more a feeling about people than the architecture."

Gehry's status as a celebrity architect moved into Hollywood's realm after reports that actor Brad Pitt was helping him design a multimillion seafront complex in Hove, England, but Gehry denied rumors of collaboration.

"There's nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing," he said. "He's just interested in architecture. He comes around every once in a while to see what we're doing."

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Construction update

May 2006
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Wow, good pictures. Strange to see the last expansion being deconstructed...

I admit I nearly keeled over and had a heart attack last week when I saw a list of current arts projects in Toronto, and discovered that the AGO is costing MORE, I repeat MORE than the ROM!!!! I was gobsmacked and speechless( which almost never happens!!) :uh:

Yea.. The AGO will be quite an addition.. Can't wait!
I hope they do something with the Grange park too... Like stick a few statues out and about (I mean Statue Park, anyone?) and a nice big fountain in the middle where the paths meet.

I am pining for the Grange to be re-opened, as I love it. I have no really good photos of it and intend to do some photography the moment it is unveiled. The scale and the
history of the Grange make it so comfortable to visit!

Yea.. The AGO will be quite an addition.. Can't wait!
I hope they do something with the Grange park too... Like stick a few statues out and about (I mean Statue Park, anyone?) and a nice big fountain in the middle where the paths meet.

why? so people can't use the fields to do things you're supposed to do in parks? grange is a great park and doesn't need anything.

why? so people can't use the fields to do things you're supposed to do in parks? grange is a great park and doesn't need anything.
There are plenty of parks around.. But there's one park right behind the greatest art gallery in Canada...

Construction Update - December 2006


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http://static.flickr.com/116/315166615_f90ecac2a6.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/100/315132781_dacfbddd25.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/115/315132778_e8fd427d7b.jpg?v=0

wow...

I didn't realize that it would be so imposing.

Good update Mauricio. I'm surprised that you were able to dig this thread back up after being buried for a few months.

gehry knows that he's doing...he fit the building into the neighbourhood prefectly IMO...i have heard complaints about it not being aleborate enough because some of his other museums were spectacular and flashy, but this is just what toronto needs.

it'll have a great view of downtown i presume? is the expansion tower all glass?

gehry knows that he's doing...he fit the building into the neighbourhood prefectly IMO...i have heard complaints about it not being aleborate enough because some of his other museums were spectacular and flashy, but this is just what toronto needs.

it'll have a great view of downtown i presume? is the expansion tower all glass?

No, it is black tile on the back, from where the view is taken in the fourth shot. The Grange
looks so tiny now. I love the Grange and will be happy to go see it again when it is open.

That back building is so big in person!

This is kind of off topic, but I am still reeling in shock to find out that the new
Tiffany's in Vancouver was designed by Gehry. It kind of reminds me of a blue
version of our horrid Birk's building on Bloor St. Let me just quietly say I am happy
as a pig in poop that we have the Tiffany design that we do..

Will this be the forgotten Gehry project?

I'm just curious if anyone will know it was even by him in 20 years?

Am I alone in thinking that? Or do you think it will be presented as proof the Gehry could actually design a big box?

Uhh, I fail to remember what the render look like... There must be one in this thread somewhere... *Looks*

Woah.. this isn't just a box...

http://www.ago.net/transformation/building-images/8.05.04/south-west-facade-lg.jpg

No! It's a box with frilly things!

Yes, a box with broken slinky's hanging off the side!

It will probably look very cool when it is done. It will be great to
have the AGO back up and running.

Uhh, I fail to remember what the render look like... There must be one in this thread somewhere... *Looks*

Woah.. this isn't just a box...

http://www.ago.net/transformation/building-images/8.05.04/south-west-facade-lg.jpg

This project is the anti-Gehry. Look out Disney Concert Theatre, we have the big box (cause it was the cheapest one in the catalogue). But we did choose the earrings. Decided the rest was way too showy and elaborate for Toronto.

This project is the anti-Gehry. Look out Disney Concert Theatre, we have the big box (cause it was the cheapest one in the catalogue). But we did choose the earrings. Decided the rest was way too showy and elaborate for Toronto.

Or.. just didn't fit Toronto's urban fabric...

^^ @ Urban: Would you have preferred to have him do yet another Bilboa knockoff like he was churning out all over the place? Wavy titanium roof, maybe, to represent the waves of Lake Ontario? Would it be more World Class to ape buildings done in multitude of other cities? I think that it dawned upon Mr Gehry that the day had arrived when he had to come up with some new ideas, but I think personally that he is not the most multi-faceted architect around. He had a great idea once, and milked it to death. Personally, I would not be happy to have a mini Bilboa here, and personally I think it is time for him to hang up his hat and call it a day.

we have the big box (cause it was the cheapest one in the catalogue)

Yes because a $250,000,000 + expansion is cheap.

I'm I the only one who thinks it looks really nice?

^^ No, I like the front a lot, it is just the back I am worried about. But, as Taller mentioned it is a better alternative than a Bilbao imitation.

I think it is going to look nice when it is done. Maybe not as exciting as if they had had a clean slate of a big parking lot to start with and not the myriad of restrictions for renovating in that particular residential neighbourhood, but it will look nice and clean.

I'm I the only one who thinks it looks really nice?

I like the front of the building, if it looks anything like the model when finished. Hopefully the back of the building is extreamly visible from Queen Street - if so, it should act like a magnet drawing people up from the south. I like the earlier drawinings where there as a water theme to the back - a huge mural.

It just look awkward to me. Which I don't like.

Things can look weird without being awkward. But I guess it will be really cool- I just have to look at photos of it more often and get adjusted. :)

Not that any of you care, but I think it is great. It is two buildings (umm, two renos?) in one. From Dundas and from the park (and Queen) you get two different vistas, and see two different products.

And I like the earrings. Need to seee the complete version, but I expect this to look awesome from the park (box and all).

I hope the city will take Grange Park seriously after this is complete. It has such incredible potential it boggles my brain. John St. north of Queen leading up to that pathway has a great streetwall, the St. George church tower, the interesting architecture of the OCAD, Grange, and now AGO. Beverley has some nice victorians and the intimate streets just south of the park are interesting.

A fountain in the middle of the park and some new lampposts and benches would complete it nicely, in my opinion.

I hope the city will take Grange Park seriously after this is complete. It has such incredible potential it boggles my brain. John St. north of Queen leading up to that pathway has a great streetwall, the St. George church tower, the interesting architecture of the OCAD, Grange, and now AGO. Beverley has some nice victorians and the intimate streets just south of the park are interesting.

A fountain in the middle of the park and some new lampposts and benches would complete it nicely, in my opinion.

Agreed! I would really go with making this part on a classic European model. Grand fountain in the middle and statues dotting the square. Of course, many flowerbeds and perfectly manicured English grass;)

I hope the city will take Grange Park seriously after this is complete. It has such incredible potential it boggles my brain. John St. north of Queen leading up to that pathway has a great streetwall, the St. George church tower, the interesting architecture of the OCAD, Grange, and now AGO. Beverley has some nice victorians and the intimate streets just south of the park are interesting.

A fountain in the middle of the park and some new lampposts and benches would complete it nicely, in my opinion.

... doesn anyone know if their will a south enterence to this building? Or will you have to walk around to the North side?

I hope the city will take Grange Park seriously after this is complete. It has such incredible potential it boggles my brain.


I believe the city is already planning a major investment for Grange Park. It is using Section 37 funds...that Shangrila building will be contributing 1/2 million alone. Probably doing it in 2008.

And you are right...Grange Park is one of those fabulous little urban parks. It used to be my back yard when I lived in that old Prii building a few years back. With it's vistas of some great new funky architecture as a new bonus. That little courtyard at the base of the old church tower hosts a number of interesting events (plays, concerts, ect)...very cool little venue.






KGB

And, the Grange itself is a gem. We are lucky it has survived. Made entirely of hand made bricks as there was no brickworks west of Montreal in the 1820's. Some of the renovations inside are questionable... the grand staircase and brightly coloured stained glass windows are too late Victorian to be period, but it is better than to have been demolished like so many other old buildings.
I may be wrong, but wasn't the Grange used as the first art gallery in Toronto when it ceased to be a single family dwelling?

Some of the renovations inside are questionable

I don't think so. While the earliest part of the house was constructed around 1817, it had additions and alterations later. That is why they decided on restoring it to the 1835-1840 period. I would say it reflects the Georgian/Regency styles of the day....nothing victorian about it to me.






KGB

I drove by yesterday to see how it's coming and was pleasantly surprised at the progress. I believe the back will give new 'height' to the building. It certainly is going to make the entire area look a little more sophisticated.

I don't think so. While the earliest part of the house was constructed around 1817, it had additions and alterations later. That is why they decided on restoring it to the 1835-1840 period. I would say it reflects the Georgian/Regency styles of the day....nothing victorian about it to me.
KGB


Oh, that big colourful stained glass window at the top of the stairs looks later Vic to me. Bright blues and reds became more popular toward the end of that period. I'm pretty sure I remember the guide saying they wish that it had been renovated to an earlier style. I'm trying to remember the furniture inside, but I think it is circa mid 1850's. The furniture is the hard part, as they
have to rely on donations, mostly. Georgian furniture is very expensive.

I can't wait to see the interior of this project. The exterior design, IMO, isn't very good.

I know Gehry has a connection to the institution, but I would've preferred them to give the $200 million budget to someone like Diamond, someone who probably could've done something fantastic and in keeping with the current design.

It's funny you mentioned Diamond...he's probably still seething at losing the last competition to his former partner...Barton Myers. I guess his validation comes from the fact they are demolishing it. he he.

No...I think it was a good project for Gehry. Gives him a chance to break that little mould he got himself into....does him good to struggle a bit. Whether or not we benefit from that experience is yet to be seen. But if we are going to get a Gehry, it's better we get one that breaks the mould, rather than one of the clones...I think that would be really pathetic as far a a civic statement goes.





KGB

Well, I'll bet Gehry's fee is enormous, that's for sure. Oh well, I think the thing
to do is just let it happen and we might be pleasantly surprised. There was so much
kvetching about the Opera House until it was completed, and most people now understand
what Diamond was trying to do, and that he did a fine job.

And of course, Diamond is the antithesis of Gehry. Because of this, it is much easier to form an opinion of a Gehry, than it is of a Diamond...good or bad.

What a little political web of architectural drama...it was the AGO that Diamond really wanted to design back when, but instead got the opera house....while it was Gehry who really wanted to design the opera house, but instead got the AGO.






KGB

I could not agree with you more.

A couple of updates.. sorry they are night pix, but I just happened to be in the hood last night on my bike so snapped a couple of pictures:

rear:

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/4513/mar2707agorearpi7.jpg

front:

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/3663/mar2707agofrontrd0.jpg

this project has fallen off our radar screens

Great pics T,B.
Finally some visible progress. Fell off our radars because hardly any activity was noticeable and we got bored, like watching grass grow. You know most of us here are the short attention span types.
The texture on that front facade looks interesting. Look forward to further progress. That really is one huge long block, which is hard to appreciate in photos. I hope that some attention is paid to the sidewalk in the front part, which feels narrow and uncomfortably close to the cars whizzing by and has no landscaping.

does anyone think gehry will design a tower in this city one day?im not too crazy about his towers but i do think he could come up with something that would generate attention.btw i really like the ago design.

Great pics T,B.
Finally some visible progress. Fell off our radars because hardly any activity was noticeable and we got bored, like watching grass grow. You know most of us here are the short attention span types.
The texture on that front facade looks interesting. Look forward to further progress. That really is one huge long block, which is hard to appreciate in photos. I hope that some attention is paid to the sidewalk in the front part, which feels narrow and uncomfortably close to the cars whizzing by and has no landscaping.

It is still rather a long way from completion... the picture was taken in the dark, but that design on the front is just understructure, covered with plastic. Plastic flaps and cracks eerily in the wind and it is rather spooky down there at night! Will be nice to see the cladding go on..

Awesome view taken from the CN Tower.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/inventor_77/439532636/

Awesome view taken from the CN Tower.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/inventor_77/439532636/



great find, phunky!

Blue Finishing is now being added.

Blue Finishing is now being added.

What do you mean by Blue Finishing? You aren't thinking of the blue plastic film over the cladding, by any
chance... it is quite striking, but will come off.

Blue Cladding.

Where did you see that finished cladding? I was on the roof of the old gallery yesterday and didn't seen anything of the sort. Haven't even seen any of the blue cladding on site yet. What they've got up right now is just the tin backpan.

What is going up (Not sure if you can see it on the webcam yet) are the North stairs. They're poking up over Walker Court right now. And the ground floor curtainwall is almost done, work on the South elevation of the tower will be happening in the next week or so.

Taken June 21:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1149/584783992_7fefde189a_b.jpg
Taken by: http://www.flickr.com/people/reinvented/

Taken June 18:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1141/581941547_4038b81ebe_o.jpg
Taken by: http://www.flickr.com/people/libbyh/

Blue Cladding.

Blue Cladding? I don't recall the building being blue in renderings....

Blue Cladding? I don't recall the building being blue in renderings....

The titanium has a blue hue to it.

I LIKE it.... don't care who agrees.... and I think that those curves that are going up are just magnificent.

Ya I can't wait til the protective stuff is taken off and we can see the wood. So nice!

This wood?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1338/605953603_8a6afe926c_b.jpg

Please don't repost. I'll be taking pictures throughout construction, but will stop sharing if they leave this forum.

Well I specifically meant the wood outside. The curved stuff above the street.

Some pictures of a model they were showing on Church st. during the Pride Festival yesterday.
Sorry photos aren't so good, but it was after the parade, I was tired (took too many pix) and there were some people around the model!

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/5411/img7339us0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/2419/img7340sa0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/2259/img7341bf8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6366/img7342ku0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Nice... I like the blue hue!

I don't remember the Gehry squigglies at the Dundas side.. Is that new?

Weird, I don't remember the stairs on the front of the building. I remember them on the back. I love them, they look aluminum.

I'm guessing that they are titanium, but I do not know.

Pix taken today:

The front:
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/1206/img9214kf9.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8614/img9215an1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The back: some part of the strairs have been installed, and the windows as well
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8185/img9220bg2.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/55/img9222ig7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/1725/img9226az0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Probably a piece of the strairs?
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/3858/img9227qc8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

On the sides: is it the definitive cladding? Looks like metallic... When the sun shines it's nice, when it's cloudy, it's not so great, very "grey"...
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/3168/img9228dh1.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/7343/img9229bv2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I don't know if it changed, but the cladding was originally supposed to look like this:
http://chartattack.com/ut/AGORender(2).jpg
So hopefully it is not going to look like that in the end.

That silvery stuff is definitely the cladding. In the render it is reflecting the blue of the sky. Which is how it would look on a clear day from that angle.

I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be blue titanium, which is where the colour in the render comes from. But maybe "blue" titanium is not really that blue...

I'm almost positive that's not the finished cladding. I've walked around on that roof and that stuff looks like it's just a tin backpan. There is a spot on the East side of the tower, close to the bottom, where it looks like they've got a mock-up installed. It has a very similar colour, but with a smoother texture and a sort of staggered and overlapping pattern (it reminds me of fish scales)

And the stairs are steel. Eventually they're going to be clad with glass and some sort of metal (not sure if it calls for titanium or aluminium)

while I Prefer t to what was there to begin with, I think (if budget permitted) they could have done a lot more with a total knock-down and rebuild. I know that its much more costly, but I think the end result would have been far better.

I like the curved glass wall, and the stairs... and i'm sure the interior will be very nice, but the gigantic Silver box looming over grange park has yet to win me over...

Ya, I dunno if I like the box. I'll wait til it's done to decide.

^^Its not the cladding, its the cladding substrate- I am pretty sure that the cladding is to be applied over top of this.

The model shots seem to have some updates to the building- there were no stairs previously on the north-side of the building and they have also added one on the south side- it should turn out to be quite a nice building..

p5

Well, I think that finally, it's the definitive cladding. Here is what it's look like with a blue sky (taken today). Looks like pretty much like on the last rendering:

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/1756/img9675pr0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Nope, that's still just the backpan. They haven't even manufactured the finished panels yet. There are stainless steel mockups of the finished cladding kicking around on site tho. They have the same scaled appearance, but in silver instead of blue.

Today:

http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/6263/img9828nt2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/1016/img9827un3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4530/img9829al4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/3923/img9830vi3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Nothing new on the front of the building since last pictures!

Glass! And is that the final cladding going up? It looks dirty or something!

No, not the final cladding. Thats the same stuff that has been up there forever.

I wish this was an original building built on the waterfront. I have not been impressed by this building from the beginning. It's an ok building but not good enough for a "world class" city or one trying to become one. I'm sorry but we need to do a lot better than this, if we are going to become world class and turn around our tourism slump.

To be fair, this project had a very small budget and it might be best to pass judgement on it once it is finished. I too, believe a major gallery/museum on the waterfront is a good idea. Having the AGO on Dundas Street doesn't negate the possiblity of this in the future.

"Rome wasn't built in one day." Cliche, but very true. Toronto is a work in progress, and we will eventually have 3,4,5 major galleries, not just this one.

In person, the view from the Grange looks great.

This building looks absolutely ridiculous. I can't stress how dated this will look in 30 years. People would say, 'why did they put a staircase randomly on the outside?'

Picture an 'artistic' building from the 60's, and think how terribly useless it is, not to mention hideous. This will be the AGO's fate in 30 years.

Finally, another load of curved steel has arrived for the front facade of this building with more still to come.

Are those silver tiles they are currently putting up, the final cladding? It just doesn't look right to me.

I took this picture today from the Grange Park:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2382/1806569634_e3c45f48c0_b.jpg

From Dundas St:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2100/1806569644_9f5379ffea_b.jpg

Finally an update! This one is taking a while...but it's similar to renderings thus far.

To be fair, this project had a very small budget and it might be best to pass judgement on it once it is finished..

Correct me if I am wrong.. but I believe this building is costing as much as, if not more than the ROM....

I was at Grange Park yesterday. This balances out with OCAD nicely.

I can't wait til this project is completed... and also look forward to The Grange being reopened.

Good pics current. Thanks. Progress has been a bit slow, but coming along nicely.
Pretty imposing looking from the street.
I can't wait for the grand reopening.

I don't quite understand the critisim surrounding this project. The design is bold and modern enough, while the location is great. I could understand if people were slightly worried about the cladding (it doesn't transfer well into renderings), but at this point the whole thing looks like its shaping up pretty nicely. To me it seems like a structure that will have long-lasting appeal, even if it doesn't blow minds. Tell me I'm not the only one.

I don't quite understand the critisim surrounding this project. The design is bold and modern enough, while the location is great. I could understand if people were slightly worried about the cladding (it doesn't transfer well into renderings), but at this point the whole thing looks like its shaping up pretty nicely. To me it seems like a structure that will have long-lasting appeal, even if it doesn't blow minds. Tell me I'm not the only one.

nope, the dundas street frontage will look good even decades from now...curently it looks incredible. the back will age very well too, i really don't know where people get the basis for these opinions. i kind of close my eyes and imagine possible neighbours in 20 years, and the museum will most likely fit in VERY WELL with predictably dense and tall neighbours. i daresay that this is way better than OCAD and ROM put together, or it's looking like it so far.

Picture an 'artistic' building from the 60's, and think how terribly useless it is, not to mention hideous. This will be the AGO's fate in 30 years.


Really good architecture of any era or style remains good no matter how much time passes. Sometimes it's obvious right away, and sometimes it takes a certain amount of time to pass before people really start to appreciate it. Good Modernist architecture from the 50's and 60's was/is especially suseptable to under-appreciation...it's only recently been more appreciated by the general public. Victorian architecture was notoriously hated in the early 1900's, and only had a major comeback in the last few decades.


I think Gehry buildings are unlikely to slide into obscurity or be hated by too many people...they are just far too "important".

As for his AGO reno, well, I'm very unsure of excactly how I'm going to like it...have to wait til it's finished. What I do find intriging about it, is that this was a "difficult" project for him...it's good to see how well he can do under some stress, as opposed to his normal carte blanche situations...a good test for him. It will either be a bit of a failure for him, or the one project that really gets him out of that mold he's been in....the critics may really eat this one up for that reason.





KGB

How many staircases will there be?

i daresay that this is way better than OCAD and ROM put together, or it's looking like it so far.

That may very well be the case. As we all know, ROM didn't turn out so good.

Thanks for the pic update, its been a while :)

That may very well be the case. As we all know, ROM didn't turn out so good.

No, not as "we all know". I'd say it is a matter of opinion, wouldn't you?

No, not as "we all know". I'd say it is a matter of opinion, wouldn't you?

I think even those people who do like the ROM expansion would be willing to admit it didn't reach its potential. As a monster undertaking on Canada's foremost museum, it's fair to say it was a bit of a let down. "we all know" may be too much, but you know what he means.

The matter has been discussed extensively and there are two camps.. those who view the colour variation as a horrendous eyesore, and those who even rather enjoy the playful light and dark variation. I do think, perhaps, that in general Toronto was not ready for such a dramatic structure, and in particular
suburban Toronto is definitely not ready.

The matter has been discussed extensively and there are two camps.. those who view the colour variation as a horrendous eyesore, and those who even rather enjoy the playful light and dark variation. I do think, perhaps, that in general Toronto was not ready for such a dramatic structure.

True enough, although I wasn't commenting on the design or final look (I happen to like it), just the scope of the project and it's execution. I think most people would have welcomed an even more dramatic design (even if it was just so they could bash it later).

The matter has been discussed extensively and there are two camps.. those who view the colour variation as a horrendous eyesore, and those who even rather enjoy the playful light and dark variation. I do think, perhaps, that in general Toronto was not ready for such a dramatic structure, and in particular
suburban Toronto is definitely not ready.

And you would belong to the smaller of those two camps. I wouldn't go as far as to describe the mismatched panels as a horrendous eyesore, but it does distract from the end result. I haven't heard too many people complaining about the structure being too dramatic, but rather that the finish and final product left something to be desired. While I like it, it's no Guggenheim Museum Bilbao... unfortunately.

And you would belong to the smaller of those two camps.

A group I am quite happy remaining in. Doesn't bother me that I might see things differently from "the bigger group" to which you subscribe! Each to their own when it comes to aesthetics. :)

Im with you Taller...ROM looks great to me!

No, not as "we all know". I'd say it is a matter of opinion, wouldn't you?

So you like it exactly the way it turned out?



The matter has been discussed extensively and there are two camps.. those who view the colour variation as a horrendous eyesore, and those who even rather enjoy the playful light and dark variation. I do think, perhaps, that in general Toronto was not ready for such a dramatic structure, and in particular
suburban Toronto is definitely not ready.

You're funny. I live in what you consider suburbia, so I must not like it because of that. Look, I didn't say "It's ugly crap, tear it down", I said it didn't turn out as good as it was supposed to. WE ALL KNOW THIS, however, some might still like it anyway. You would be in this camp. I am disappointed that it isn't see through enough, because that ends up obscuring the entire building.

Just my point of view. I don't expect or require anyone else to agree with me. I am simply not hung up
about the slight (and yes it is slight) variations in the tone of the slats. Big deal... weathering will look after that in a short while.

Just my point of view. I don't expect or require anyone else to agree with me. I am simply not hung up
about the slight (and yes it is slight) variations in the tone of the slats. Big deal... weathering will look after that in a short while.

Look, I like this building, but I wanted to love this building, and I don't. The main reason that is obvious to me is the mismatched panels, which I still can't believe were used on a project of this magnitude. Perhaps they will weather with time, but then again, maybe they were treated with some super-duper anti-weathering agent, and won't. And I doubt the panels will be ever be replaced.

I say we sandblast the whole thing removing the paint thereby exposing the metal underneath. Or if that's not in the budget, a bunch of us could go down armed with our Dremel Rotary Tools to get the job done. Once all the paint is removed, we'll put a couple of coats of shellac over it and call it a day. Finally, just sit back and watch how the light plays off those babies now! :tongue2: :D

As for the AGO, it's coming along nicely, but it's still too early to tell how this one will turn out. I'm going down there tomorrow to look at their latest shipment of panels/tiles. Gotta make sure stuff matches! ;)

Here's a novel idea! Seeing as the issue has been utterly flogged to death and well into six future lifetimes, perhaps we should just let it drop! ;)

The Wohl Center, Bar Ilan University, Tel Aviv (Metro)
http://i20.tinypic.com/2pocbog.jpg

http://i24.tinypic.com/149cygk.jpg

http://i22.tinypic.com/166kdvl.jpg

http://i21.tinypic.com/2r6idcg.jpg

http://i22.tinypic.com/27zxa1u.jpg

http://i21.tinypic.com/2d9v1fs.jpg

The gold-coloured panelling may seem a bit gaudy to our eyes but it makes sense given the quality of light in the Middle East. Same goes for the amount of glazing. I think this is more successful than the ROM Crystal. It seems to have more integrity. Maybe because Libeskind was working with a clean slate here. It's just more pleasing to my eyes. But I think I'd have a hard time concentrating on a lecture with all that craziness going on overhead.

(p.s. I couldn't find the thread on the ROM Crystal so I posted here. My apologies if that confuses things.)

Well, every single piece of siding is exactly the same colour, so that should be enough to please the crowd here. No shading variation whatsoever. Notice how wonderfully uniform and monochromatic the finish is.

I actually prefer the ROM to that building, although that building is more "pure" because it's not exploding out of an historical building.

However, that lecture hall is quite fabulous.

Oh man, I didn't even notice the mismatched panels. I took a closer look today, and it looks much worse than I thought. But w/e.

the fourth picture kind of looks like a Best Buy.

I actually prefer the ROM to that building, although that building is more "pure" because it's not exploding out of an historical building.

However, that lecture hall is quite fabulous.

Oh man, I didn't even notice the mismatched panels. I took a closer look today, and it looks much worse than I thought. But w/e.


"I didn't even notice the mismatched panels"

you just noticed now? I thought you used to complain about it back in the old phunky days...

"I didn't even notice the mismatched panels"

you just noticed now? I thought you used to complain about it back in the old phunky days...

Nope, never complained. Although a lot of ppl did back then. I actually liked it when I went for the opening, but after that I slowly went in the other direction. Not like it matters now though.

hmmm sorry... must have confused you with phunky. In any case, what is done is done. Weathering will take care of it through oxidization of the aluminum.

hmmm sorry... must have confused you with phunky.

:|

I said sorry.

I find it odd that I was confused with him. That's all.

So is phunky banned FOREVER? He was negative a lot, and opinionated. But he's young and idealistic. I've certainly seen more and worse from some others who remain, and shall remain nameless...

http://i21.tinypic.com/2iox8o.jpg

http://i23.tinypic.com/2ibe1so.jpg

http://i21.tinypic.com/21358ib.jpg

I promise these are the last images I'll be posting about this project in Tel Aviv, this being the Toronto section. I just thought they might add to the discussion about our own ROM Crystal, just as do comparisons to Libeskind's Denver project.

Overall, I like this Tel Aviv work more. The fit and finish and composition of forms, the two things that irk me most about the ROM Crystal, seem to be better here. But that's just my opinion, of course. And, granted, this is a wholly new structure; not an addition to an existing, heritage building. Okay. I'm done.

Well, every single piece of siding is exactly the same colour, so that should be enough to please the crowd here. No shading variation whatsoever. Notice how wonderfully uniform and monochromatic the finish is.

If you look closely, there is some variation... The block on the left in the second picture shows some, as well as the right side of the 4th picture. The 5th picture also has one slat up on top which appears to be a different shade of yellow.

Im one of those people who doesn't like the mismatched ROM cladding (simple things like that really just piss me off... I guess thats why I noticed it on the Wohl Center so easily too), but I would take the ROM over the Wohl Center. (mismatched slats and all!) The ROM looks less boxy and more angular. Just great!

Back to the AGO:

Is that staircase going to be covered with the same exterior cladding material?

Without seeing this building in person, and only going by the photos, I'd have to say that I prefer the ROM Crystal. One of the aspects of the ROM Crystal that I really like -- which some others do not -- is the architectural juxtaposition of the new addition with its daring and complex style versus the old conservative original structure. ScrapeTheSky obviously disagrees with me judging by this post:

I actually prefer the ROM to that building, although that building is more "pure" because it's not exploding out of an historical building.

I like the juxtaposition as well, just not the fact that it has so many panels that obscure the old building.

is there any set date for when this is supposed to be finished? (AGO)

is there any set date for when this is supposed to be finished? (AGO)

Oh sure, always trying to bring the discussion around to the AGO. You'd swear we were in the AGO topic the way you say that! Oops. :doh:

I like the juxtaposition as well, just not the fact that it has so many panels that obscure the old building.

Depends which angle you view it from.

is there any set date for when this is supposed to be finished? (AGO)

Spring 2008 I think.

Without seeing this building in person, and only going by the photos, I'd have to say that I prefer the ROM Crystal. One of the aspects of the ROM Crystal that I really like -- which some others do not -- is the architectural juxtaposition of the new addition with its daring and complex style versus the old conservative original structure. ScrapeTheSky obviously disagrees with me judging by this post:

i said i prefer the rom, including, as i mentioned, the exploding out of a heritage building aspect. yes i think the wohl centre is more 'pure', but that doesn't make it better.

http://i21.tinypic.com/2iox8o.jpg

http://i23.tinypic.com/2ibe1so.jpg

http://i21.tinypic.com/21358ib.jpg

I promise these are the last images I'll be posting about this project in Tel Aviv, this being the Toronto section. I just thought they might add to the discussion about our own ROM Crystal, just as do comparisons to Libeskind's Denver project.

Overall, I like this Tel Aviv work more. The fit and finish and composition of forms, the two things that irk me most about the ROM Crystal, seem to be better here. But that's just my opinion, of course. And, granted, this is a wholly new structure; not an addition to an existing, heritage building. Okay. I'm done.

Am I the only one that sees the same ROM crystal but in a different colour.

i said i prefer the rom, including, as i mentioned, the exploding out of a heritage building aspect. yes i think the wohl centre is more 'pure', but that doesn't make it better.

Gotcha! Understood now. Assumed you meant "more pure" was "better". My bad.

Am I the only one that sees the same ROM crystal but in a different colour.

I think Libeskind does alot of cannibalizing. I don't see the subtle and sensitive contextual differences between projects that his supporters see. Besides the Jewish Museum in Berlin, and perhaps one or two of his other designs, like the cancelled Victoria & Albert Museum expansion in London, I think he's a flash-in-the-pan and vastly over-rated. But he sure knows how to play the media game. That scribbled napkin is just precious.

I think Libeskind does alot of cannibalizing. I don't see the subtle and sensitive contextual differences between projects that his supporters see.


But that doesn't mean they aren't there. And I find him to be original...I see nothing derivative, and i think his designs come entirely from within. His buildings appear to have the same theme because I believe he uses the same simple process, but each one is individual...snowflakes look the same, but are all unique.

He is very focused in how he designs and the designs follow strict rules. He was always interested in math, and in fact wanted to be a mathematician at an early age before deciding on architecture instead....and like most math-obssesed people, they also have a thing for music...and usually architecture.

His focus is on space and planes. He has a very precise way of treating interior space and does not create separate exterior space...or facades...they simply reflect the same planes as the interior space. Any other details seem to have no importance, which is why the mis-matched hues of panels are of no concern to him in terms of the integrity of what he thinks makes the building what it is...it simply isn't part of the equasion.

Most call his style deconstructive...I don't know if I would.

The problem with Libeskind, seems to be his personality...he seems extremely egotistical, and I think the fame has not worn well on him. But that doesn't mean he can't be brilliant at what he does....Look at FLW...a bigger ego has never existed.





KGB

MIT alleges flaws in Gehry building
Tue Nov 6, 4:23 PM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_re_us/mit_suit_architect

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20071106/capt.dd0567fb641b4ef696dcd64901fc7cdc.mit_stata_suit_architect_bx501.jpg?x=252&y=345&sig=jlxddqw5RlnAjSM_hqeQxQ--

Link to photo (http://news.yahoo.com/photo/071106/480/dd0567fb641b4ef696dcd64901fc7cdc;_ylt=AlTaw4EL9usPTCcANPE2LSdH2ocA)

BOSTON - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is suing renowned architect Frank Gehry, alleging serious design flaws in the Stata Center, a building celebrated for its unconventional walls and radical angles.

The school asserts that the center, completed in spring 2004, has persistent leaks, drainage problems and mold growing on its brick exterior. It says accumulations of snow and ice have fallen dangerously from window boxes and other areas of its roofs, blocking emergency exits and causing damage.

The suit says MIT paid Los Angeles-based Gehry Partners $15 million to design the Stata Center, which cost $300 million to build. It houses labs, offices, classrooms and meeting rooms.

"Gehry breached its duties by providing deficient design services and drawings," according to the suit, which also names New Jersey-based Beacon Skanska Construction Co., now known as Skanska USA Building Inc. The suit, filed Oct. 31, seeks unspecified damages.

Gehry Partners did not immediately respond to a call from The Associated Press seeking comment Tuesday, and did not respond to calls and e-mails Monday from The Boston Globe. A spokesman for MIT declined to comment because of the pending lawsuit.

An executive at Skanska's Boston office said Gehry ignored warnings from Skanska and a consulting company before construction that there were flaws in the design. "This is not a construction issue, never has been," said Paul Hewins, executive vice president and area general manager of Skanska USA.

Gehry's work includes the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

^^

I heard this on National Public Radio radio today.
Very unsual for the architect to get sued since he did not force the client into accepting the design.
Gehry said that he objected to certain design changes that MIT made to save money.
Everyone (MIT, Gehry and the builder) are finger pointing at each other. The court will have to sort it out.

This is no comment whatsoever on this specific case, but I would imagine in general an architect is like an engineer, and thus responsible for the soundness of his design. Any professional has the option to walk away from the project if the client makes unreasonable demands.

Photo taken today of work being done on the spiral staircase on the south side. A portion of Alsop's OCAD building is visible in the background.


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2117/1912789348_f0182172f0_b.jpg

nice shot!

Indeed! ^^

Looks good!

Looks pretty terrible in my opinion.

Has anyone else noticed that Artistic design has simply turned into, 'who can come up with the most demented, non-nonsensical design'?

Has anyone else noticed that Artistic design has simply turned into, 'who can come up with the most demented, non-nonsensical design'?

Sounds like art to me.

The AGO will finally be something. I can't wait to explore the collection in-depth (I'm a classic art freak).

^^ Have you seen the Birnini that Frum donated earlier this year? I missed it, and can't wait to get a peak when the gallery re-opens. Kinda interested to see that zillion-dollar Rubens that Thomson donated as well. It may have cost 1/4 $billion to reno the place, but it has payed off in twice that much in art donated to it in the process.




KGB

^^ Have you seen the Birnini that Frum donated earlier this year? I missed it, and can't wait to get a peak when the gallery re-opens. Kinda interested to see that zillion-dollar Rubens that Thomson donated as well. It may have cost 1/4 $billion to reno the place, but it has payed off in twice that much in art donated to it in the process.




KGB

I saw a picture of the Bernini crucifix.. It's gorgeous - definitely a new highlight for the sculpture gallery. I'm also excited to see the Massacre of the Innocents by Rubens - I heard it's a good 1.8m x 2m, so quite a large piece. Thomson has given Toronto a great great gift with that donation.

Currently, I wonder how the AGO's collection stacks up to lets say the National Gallery in Ottawa? Any idea, KGB?

That staircase reminds me of a twisted historic trolley car or San Fransisco cablecar.

Looks pretty terrible in my opinion.

Has anyone else noticed that Artistic design has simply turned into, 'who can come up with the most demented, non-nonsensical design'?

Yup. We need people to build great, classic stuff like this beauty:
http://www.greatcommission.com/michele/2002007.jpg
Can you imagine if they built that in Toronto? :eek2:
We'd truly be world class then.

Yup. We need people to build great, classic stuff like this beauty:
http://www.greatcommission.com/michele/2002007.jpg
Can you imagine if they built that in Toronto? :eek2:
We'd truly be world class then.

I'd live in that. Every queen needs a castle.:lol:

Yup. We need people to build great, classic stuff like this beauty:

Can you imagine if they built that in Toronto? :eek2:
We'd truly be world class then.

lmao!! :lol:

All jokes aside, I think the AGO is going to turn out to be a true gem.

All jokes aside, I think the AGO is going to turn out to be a true gem.

I think so too.

That whole area is awesome, just awesome.

Anyone here consider how much culture there is along John St?

Let's start from the bottom and work our way up...

-Skydome
-CBC
-TIFF
-NFB
-RTH, Royal Alex and Princess of Wales
-Hooters
-Chum/City building and Queen W (in general)
-The Grange
-OCAD
-AGO

Not too shabby for what might amount to a kilometer.

Hooters should apply for a Government grant for an upgrade, with Santiago Calatrava as the architect!

I'd live in that. Every queen needs a castle.:lol:

I wouldn't start talking about 'queens'. Do you have any idea how many of us there are in here? We'd need a whole whack of these castles.

Maybe we could level St. Jamestown, put the castles in there and call it Queensborough, or Queenston Heights (oh, wait, that's already taken....damn, damn, damn!):lol:

Or storm the gates of Casa Loma, and expell the Kiwanis Club members! Sort of like storming the gates of the Bastille!!! :D I get first dibs on the bedroom upstairs with the terrace that overlooks downtown Toronto... we'd have to toss out all the tacky old junky furniture and get more authentic period pieces, mind you. No lawn sale stuff in my boudoir.

I think so too.

That whole area is awesome, just awesome.

Anyone here consider how much culture there is along John St?

Let's start from the bottom and work our way up...

-Skydome
-CBC
-TIFF
-NFB
-RTH, Royal Alex and Princess of Wales
-Hooters
-Chum/City building and Queen W (in general)
-The Grange
-OCAD
-AGO

Not too shabby for what might amount to a kilometer.

Don't forget the male strippers a couple blocks east at Mark's Work Wearhouse.

Don't forget the male strippers a couple blocks east at Mark's Work Wearhouse.

Ummmm, I don't know how I could have missed that.

^^Taller, Better can give you more info about the strippers. ;)

I wouldn't start talking about 'queens'. Do you have any idea how many of us there are in here? We'd need a whole whack of these castles.

Wouldn't that make a FABULOUS Gay Village? All those pretty fake castles, filled with fabulous bars and condos and stores and saunas and.... I'm lost in Fairy Wonderland. But seriously! OK, how about a huge, gay, castle hotel that's dedicated to crazy, gay, King Ludwig ll. The queens and kings of the Village would love it and queers world wide would come to visit. Now that would make Toronto truly "world class".:banana:

^^Taller, Better can give you more info about the strippers. ;)

I thought Taller, Bigger was one of those strippers. He doesn't call himself Taller, "Bigger" for nothin'. :lol:

OOOPPPSSS Did I give away any secrets? I wouldn't want to out anybody or be indiscreet.

You need a spanking!:lol:

You need a spanking!:lol:

I do! lol I'm a bad bear.

I thought Taller, Bigger was one of those strippers. He doesn't call himself Taller, "Bigger" for nothin'. :lol:

OOOPPPSSS Did I give away any secrets? I wouldn't want to out anybody or be indiscreet.

He has man tits?

Beautifully written article/review.

A year before liftoff, Gehry's AGO already soars
LISA ROCHON
From Saturday's Globe and Mail

December 1, 2007 at 12:03 AM EST

TORONTO — Despite moving through the rain and cold, despite having to travel down wooden ladders and through muddy puddles on the floor, the truth about the redesign of Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario, I discovered, is not to be found stuffed into packing crates or hidden in clouds of plaster dust.

The truth is already plain to see: One year away from being completed, the Frank Gehry redesign is a staggering success.

True, Gehry's original design was worrisome for its heavy-handed treatment of both the front and back elevations. The back addition, to the south, was a cumbersome box, lording, like a dour Calvinist, over the pastoral landscape of Grange Park and the artful pyrotechnics of the Ontario College of Art & Design. The front was first imagined as an oppressive canopy in steel and glass running an entire city block along Dundas Street. But Gehry listened when the client asked for more.

Now, it's possible to be convinced of the great pleasures already being delivered by the project. More than two dozen curved columns – radials constructed of Douglas fir from Canada's West Coast – create the bones of a monumental second-storey glass promenade, setting up one of the many exhilarating stages Gehry has designed from which to experience the rooftops, the brickwork and, especially, the mess of people circulating through his old neighbourhood.

On the back side of the AGO, where the contemporary art galleries are contained, it was possible this week to step for the first time onto a seriously cantilevered spiral staircase – a barnacle of steel – which Gehry created to give movement and levity to the south tower. Okay, it was exposed, slippery and so tightly wound that it felt as if it could make a lot of snowboarders happy. But this is a coup for AGO director Matthew Teitelbaum, who says he feared the back end of the gallery looked overly static, and for an artists' advisory group who called for better movement between the contemporary-art floors.

The AGO's asymmetrical gesture – the unravelling of the creative mind, the organic inside of a sea shell – is a powerful counterpoint to the straight-laced Grange historic house that sits in the park below. And, importantly, it allows visitors to step out into the air onto a stage cantilevered 38 feet – more than 11 metres – out from the gallery, and hang there, before spiralling up or down between the fourth and fifth contemporary art floors.

In the coming weeks, panels of vibrant blue titanium will be folded onto the skin of the building, around the monumental glass-curtain wall, and applied so as to allow for a slight give, or pillowing. With this move, Gehry provides a permanent resting place for the shifting tones of a winter's sky; whereas, next door, British architect Will Alsop threw a palette of colours, to great effect, at OCAD's redesign. For people living in Winnipeg, it's possible to understand the electric moment when two rivers come together. As cities such as Toronto intensify and densify, the imperative for energizing the metropolis is found, increasingly, through the confluence of architecture.

Three years ago, it was a moot point whether the AGO would bother to play its new addition off the daring tabletop form of OCAD's Sharp Centre for Design. But time has passed, and Gehry's design has evolved. Now, the experience of Grange Park has been dramatically shifted by the bold framing offered by both institutions. There is nothing marginal or inconsequential about Toronto's new cultural district. The combined courage of both works of architecture has given a big-city feel to an otherwise forgotten park.

The Art Gallery of Ontario has come out of its shell. Through the leadership of many who toil there, from Teitelbaum to the curators and building project managers, a vision for an art gallery that will captivate and sustain the public interest has been nailed down. Though the gallery is expanding from 486,000 to 583,000 square feet, there is still a strong sense of intimacy that runs through it.

The back wall of the monumental promenade, named the Gallery Italia in honour of the 20 prominent Italian-Canadian families that each donated $500,000 to the cause, is lined in large panels of vertical-grain Douglas fir. It opposes the frenetic pace of city life with something slowed down and sumptuous. The floors within the gallery's expansive front lobby were initially specified as polished concrete, but, wanting more warmth, Teitelbaum called for a switch to white oak. Walnut flooring with moments of Spanish limestone will lead into the Thomson European collection and the Rubens masterpiece, The Massacre of the Innocents.

Enduring architecture requires a magical capturing of light. And, even on a dull winter's day during my visit to the AGO, it's possible to conclude that light has been captured and channelled in kind, gentle ways. There are five major skylights in the upper contemporary galleries and individual, canted skylights in the Thomson Canadian collections. They might have been value-engineered out, but Gehry stood by the need for natural light, as did his client. What they allow cannot be traded away: a chance for AGO visitors, for the first time, to experience art gently bathed in daylight. Even the Walker Court has been invigorated not only by the addition of the spiral “baroque” staircase but through a new glass peaked roof allowing light to flood what will become the gallery's public square.

Coming out of its shell means, also, that the AGO has relied on its own intimate knowledge of its collections. To that end, decisions about how to celebrate the existing collection and the donated, wondrous collections of the late Kenneth Thomson have been made in-house. An outsider agency was not hired, the way the Royal Ontario Museum appointed the British exhibition designers, Haley Sharpe, to decide how to display the artifacts. Instead, AGO curators decided on the kind of building that would most enhance their collections, rather than being required, late in the game, to stuff the stuff into an architect's version of a large piece of sculpture.

There are tremendous rewards to be gained from meticulous planning. For several months, AGO installation directors and curators have been working with foam-core models to test the placement of paintings and objects. At one point, a team from the gallery, and including a guest curator from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, assembled at Gehry's Los Angeles studios to lay out full-size mockups of the ship-model gallery – part of the Thomson collection – with pictures of about 100 ships mounted on foam core to be positioned and repositioned. With that information, the Gehry team of designers went ahead to design display cases with glass tops, inspired by the chop of the sea, that curve both vertically and horizontally.

The same kind of process was repeated for the European collections. How individual objects are to be lit has been studied and tested so that, even with shelving, there is a guarantee of the clear passage of light.

Is Gehry invincible? Hardly. His reputation is only as good as his last work. The fact that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is suing Gehry's office for “providing deficient design services and drawings” (MIT is also suing the construction company, Skanska USA Building Inc.) might have pushed a dark cloud over the AGO redevelopment. The lawsuit claims that there have been leaks, mould, falling ice, and cracks in masonry since the $278-million Ray and Maria Stata Center for Computer, Information and Intelligence Sciences opened in 2004.

Can we expect ice to drop to the sidewalk from the AGO's beautiful curved promenade, or mildew to climb the freshly appointed walls? It seems unlikely. That's because the AGO, in a plodding, meticulous way, established processes that mitigate the risk of a newly constructed, crumbling building. Early on, a building committee, with knowledgeable mega-builders such as Murray Frum, Jack Rabinovitch and renowned structural engineer Morden Yolles, was established. On their advice, a building-envelope consultant – the guys who test a glass wall for potential leakage – was hired; the general contractor, EllisDon Corp., has been a steady, involved player during the evolution of the design. And outside inspectors were brought into the construction site on a regular basis – it's possible to see the sign-off signatures of two separate inspectors on the welded joints required for the indoor and outdoor spiralling staircases.

To date, $225-million has been raised of a total budget of $254-million for the AGO redevelopment. That's a lot of dough dedicated to the enterprise of architecture, surely the riskiest of the arts.

Money well spent? Let me count the ways.

In a town of many maturing riches and burgeoning big-city aspirations, money is being thrown at all kinds of cultural-renaissance ventures. Sometimes, despite all the hoopla, the payback can be rather thin. But as transformations go, the AGO deserves some special recognition for framing art within a memorable experience of architecture. It only makes sense to please the customer, because, guess what, the customer knows best.

^^
Great article.
Loved this:
In the coming weeks, panels of vibrant blue titanium will be folded onto the skin of the building, around the monumental glass-curtain wall, and applied so as to allow for a slight give, or pillowing.

Recent updates:

http://i13.tinypic.com/7xux6qf.jpg

http://i10.tinypic.com/6l9ckn7.jpg

...the gallery is expanding from 486,000 to 583,000 square feet...

I would have thought it was expanding by even more than that based on the sizeable addition.

a 20% increase is a pretty good addition. I know it looks bigger, but its mostly just the big box that will add real floor space.

From what I heard, this renovation cost about the same as the ROM, and provides much less new space. I think a lot of people are assuming that it was more of a low cost renovation than the "extravagant" ROM.

Based on Lisa Rochon's assessment, it sounds like the AGO might be getting more bang for its buck as it's new space seems to be adding quality while the ROM's merely adds quantity.

ah yes. Good old LR.

(** takes deep breath and bites tongue**)

i think if anything it adds some sparkle and shine to a pretty bland strip of dundas

I am very much looking forward to seeing this project completed.. it has been taking a very long time.

Wow, I didn't know it cost as much as the ROM? I love the design though.

Oh yeah. Wasn't cheap.

^^Considering that the MoMA expansion cost $425-million (U.S.), or $858-million for construction, real-estate acquisitions and an enlarged endowment, I'd say that AGO's transformation is pretty cheap. Remember, Toronto's in the big leagues now.

My point is, people assume this cost a lot less than the ROM expansion. As far as I know it didn't.
I just wish they had sold the building, and started afresh on another plot of land downtown.
the neighbours around the AGO won't let you take a crap without their permission.

:lol:

Recent updates:

http://i13.tinypic.com/7xux6qf.jpg

http://i10.tinypic.com/6l9ckn7.jpg



... wow that's the first time I've ever thought of the AGO being big!

i think if anything it adds some sparkle and shine to a pretty bland strip of dundas

... bland strip???

The bland strip is University to Bay. One of the BLEAKEST sections of downtown streets.

Dundas from Jarvis to Spadina was pretty awful 10 years ago. With the development of Dundas Square and the Canadian Tire store at Bay and Dundas, the stretch from Victoria to Bay is great. In another 10 years, the whole stretch has the potential to transform into a dynamite downtown strip stretching the entire length from Jarvis to Chinatown.

The AGO is going to be a significant part of this redevelopment. It will be a catalyst for a huge resurgence and create more east-west flow between these psychologically disconnected sections of town.

Our budget for the AGO may have been significantly smaller than other budgets like the Disney Concert Hall in LA, or Bilbao in Spain, but we're getting one of the best developments in this city's history. It looks wonderful.

... bland strip???

The bland strip is University to Bay. One of the BLEAKEST sections of downtown streets.

true but what i meant was that in contrast to a block that is basically old brick (Which dont get me wrong , i love brick) its reallly going to stand out

true but what i meant was that in contrast to a block that is basically old brick (Which dont get me wrong , i love brick) its reallly going to stand out

I don't think this building will be offensive to the neighbourhood. It's the right scale, and the building materials are nice.

I like the new front to the AGO. The box looks like an afterthought though. C'mon no windows on two sides? :ohno: I wasn't expecting the world from this shoestring budget but the box seriously looks like crap. Why couldn't they have done the box like the OCAD instead?

I like the new front to the AGO. The box looks like an afterthought though. C'mon no windows on two sides? :ohno: I wasn't expecting the world from this shoestring budget but the box seriously looks like crap. Why couldn't they have done the box like the OCAD instead?

Nvm. I think I've just been a little spoiled with the ROM addition.

Well I don't think windows work well for art galleries - fading.

The box isn't that visible from the street level.

It's been designed from the street up.

Wow... it sounds like I'm a defender of this building.

I like the new front to the AGO. The box looks like an afterthought though. C'mon no windows on two sides? :ohno: I wasn't expecting the world from this shoestring budget but the box seriously looks like crap. Why couldn't they have done the box like the OCAD instead?

But, it was not a shoestring budget... it was just under what it cost to build the Crystal of the ROM. That is one of the myths surrounding the AGO, that somehow it was done for little money.

I wasn't expecting the world from this shoestring budget but the box seriously looks like crap. Why couldn't they have done the box like the OCAD instead?


Well, OCAD was a small budget...AGO certainly isn't. And why didn't Gehry copy another architect? Hmmm....dumb question.

And if you think it's "crap", that's your opinion to maintain i suppose...it's just a position I would laugh at.




KGB

Photos taken December 12. Glass is being installed on the Dundas side of the AGO.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2008/2109327369_639647d784_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2143/2109327375_6ca2eb95d4_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2355/2109327389_d2fc847290_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2146/2109327393_b429fc3068_b.jpg

... I almost like it more without the glass .. maybe it would have been nice to have the glass inset? Give the building more texture and light play.