B
barit
Guest
A model of the museum that will never be built.
Toronto Aga Khan Museum + Ismaili Centre | ?m | ?s | Aga Khan Dev. | Maki and Associates
A model of the museum that will never be built.
The price of oil is rising again: it'll get built.
42
42
spaced
Active Member
Ouch!
walli
Active Member
Firstly, it is important to highlight that not all of the pieces that were already in the collections have been displayed. As an example, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan's collection of Persian miniatures, thought to be among the best such collections in the world, has only had a few examples shared in recent years. Some of the ones we haven't seen since the announcement of the museum were part of an exhibit displayed 11 years ago at the British Museum:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=162997§ioncode=20
That collection, after the British Museum, traveled to the Arthur M. Sackler Musueum at Harvard University, then Museum Rietberg inZurich, and finally the Musée d'art et d'histoire in Geneva (ending 2000).
Regarding what has been added recently, there are numerous items that have been gathered over the last 2 years, but I would not be able to give you an inventory.
hari
New Member
From the National Post [July 09, 2009]
"Bricks, mortar and memories; Canada should get serious about preserving its historic buildings"
There will always be debates about what buildings and historic sites deserve preservation, as well as legal discussions over who is obliged to pay for such preservation efforts. Perhaps now is a time when many of those arguments can be settled: At a time when governments are looking to bolster employment through infrastructure stimulus, one option that should be considered is for the federal government and the provinces to restore a wide range of Canada's historic buildings. It would seem more worthwhile to protect our heritage than, say, buy a failing company.
To understand the role of government in the preservation of historic buildings, consider the fate of the Bata shoe headquarters in suburban Toronto. It was just 40 years old when it was demolished last year to make way for an Ismali Muslim spiritual centre and Islamic art museum -- despite the fact that the Toronto Society of Architects had identified it as one of the most outstanding examples of Modernism in the city. The building's fate is typical of "endangered" buildings identified by the Heritage Canada Foundation, a nongovernmental advocacy group established by the federal government in 1973 to lobby for historical resources' rescue: While the Bata International Centre may have represented an architectural style worth preserving -- as well as being an artifact from one of Canada's first great international commercial empires -- the new owners, the Aga Khan Council of Canada, have a valid claim to use land they purchased in any legal way they please. Only if the Council had been reimbursed through appropriate public financial incentives could the building have been preserved.
The same goes for Edmonton's Arlington Apartments, Montreal's Ben's Deli and Vancouver Pantages Theatre. While Heritage Canada -- which released its annual list of endangered buildings on Tuesday -- believes all should be retained, each is located on a valuable piece of privately owned real estate in its city's business core that could be developed for tens of millions of dollars if these old buildings could be removed.
Heritage Canada's efforts at identifying historically valuable old structures is vital -- even if the blame it directs toward public officials often is off the mark. For instance, in this week's report, it blames the demolition of Ridgetown, Ont.'s Erie Street United Church on "intransigent officials," and classifies the loss of Halifax's Violet Clark Building -- the last of the city's old wooden waterfront buildings -- as a "scapegoat" in a development dispute. It is not always that simple. Developers cannot be sold land and then be forced to wait years for permission to develop it, all the while paying mortgage and interest and staff costs, not to mention losing sales opportunities as markets fluctuate.
Still, the organization's basic point is a good one: We Canadians often value our structural history too little. An old church or an old house is taken for granted. Or it is considered insignificant as compared with a great palace in India or a towering cathedral in Europe-- too trivial to save.
But while the Dominion Exhibition Display Building in Brandon, Man., may not rival Barcelona's Holy Family temple or London's St. Paul's cathedral, it does honour a time when many new prairie settlements nurtured big ambitions. Built in 1913, the Beaux-Arts Classical-style hall was constructed to house a national fair that would showcase the vast and growing breadbasket of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta at a time when Sir Wilfrid Laurier's claim that "the 20th century belongs to Canada" rang true in many Canadians' ears.
The David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill, Ont., another of the Heritage Foundation's Top 10, was site of one of the first black hole discoveries in the world. It is now under threat of redevelopment because its current owners, the University of Toronto, want to sell off most of its 77-hectare park for homes, condos and strip malls.
Saving these buildings won't be easy, but money would help. We may be a young country with more land than history, but we risk losing much of the history we have in a race to eradicate old buildings for new ones.
"Bricks, mortar and memories; Canada should get serious about preserving its historic buildings"
There will always be debates about what buildings and historic sites deserve preservation, as well as legal discussions over who is obliged to pay for such preservation efforts. Perhaps now is a time when many of those arguments can be settled: At a time when governments are looking to bolster employment through infrastructure stimulus, one option that should be considered is for the federal government and the provinces to restore a wide range of Canada's historic buildings. It would seem more worthwhile to protect our heritage than, say, buy a failing company.
To understand the role of government in the preservation of historic buildings, consider the fate of the Bata shoe headquarters in suburban Toronto. It was just 40 years old when it was demolished last year to make way for an Ismali Muslim spiritual centre and Islamic art museum -- despite the fact that the Toronto Society of Architects had identified it as one of the most outstanding examples of Modernism in the city. The building's fate is typical of "endangered" buildings identified by the Heritage Canada Foundation, a nongovernmental advocacy group established by the federal government in 1973 to lobby for historical resources' rescue: While the Bata International Centre may have represented an architectural style worth preserving -- as well as being an artifact from one of Canada's first great international commercial empires -- the new owners, the Aga Khan Council of Canada, have a valid claim to use land they purchased in any legal way they please. Only if the Council had been reimbursed through appropriate public financial incentives could the building have been preserved.
The same goes for Edmonton's Arlington Apartments, Montreal's Ben's Deli and Vancouver Pantages Theatre. While Heritage Canada -- which released its annual list of endangered buildings on Tuesday -- believes all should be retained, each is located on a valuable piece of privately owned real estate in its city's business core that could be developed for tens of millions of dollars if these old buildings could be removed.
Heritage Canada's efforts at identifying historically valuable old structures is vital -- even if the blame it directs toward public officials often is off the mark. For instance, in this week's report, it blames the demolition of Ridgetown, Ont.'s Erie Street United Church on "intransigent officials," and classifies the loss of Halifax's Violet Clark Building -- the last of the city's old wooden waterfront buildings -- as a "scapegoat" in a development dispute. It is not always that simple. Developers cannot be sold land and then be forced to wait years for permission to develop it, all the while paying mortgage and interest and staff costs, not to mention losing sales opportunities as markets fluctuate.
Still, the organization's basic point is a good one: We Canadians often value our structural history too little. An old church or an old house is taken for granted. Or it is considered insignificant as compared with a great palace in India or a towering cathedral in Europe-- too trivial to save.
But while the Dominion Exhibition Display Building in Brandon, Man., may not rival Barcelona's Holy Family temple or London's St. Paul's cathedral, it does honour a time when many new prairie settlements nurtured big ambitions. Built in 1913, the Beaux-Arts Classical-style hall was constructed to house a national fair that would showcase the vast and growing breadbasket of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta at a time when Sir Wilfrid Laurier's claim that "the 20th century belongs to Canada" rang true in many Canadians' ears.
The David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill, Ont., another of the Heritage Foundation's Top 10, was site of one of the first black hole discoveries in the world. It is now under threat of redevelopment because its current owners, the University of Toronto, want to sell off most of its 77-hectare park for homes, condos and strip malls.
Saving these buildings won't be easy, but money would help. We may be a young country with more land than history, but we risk losing much of the history we have in a race to eradicate old buildings for new ones.
B
barit
Guest
ProjectEnd
Superstar
It really was one of Parkin's best works. Having a look through that Jodidio book however, has led me to believe that with Maki's building, we lost more than we gaining.
Conrad Black
Senior Member
I agree we lost something really special.
walli
Active Member
I think it is important to understand the project at least at a basic level. The museum is NOT going on the site formerly housing the Bata building, parking lot and accompanying field. The Ismaili Centre by Charles Correa is. With the Maki building, the only thing you'll lose is a large unused field along the DVP.
See Canadian Architect:
This is the Ismaili Centre:
With respect to the museum, it is important to weigh that project considering its contents also, detail with respect how those contents are managed, and the quality of materials.
I would encourage those interested in talking about former buildings in Toronto, which is an interesting topic, to start a thread for such discussion.
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ProjectEnd
Superstar
Thank you for your clarification Walli. I do however, see no problem in lamenting the loss of a building which is being replaced with one to which this thread is dedicated.
adma
Superstar
Even when it's about a "former building" on the site, and indeed, whose demolition (and the politics thereof, stylistic and otherwise) is an eternally important undercurrent of the project that's subject of the thread?
walli
Active Member
I don't want to belabor the point. It was just a thought to separate a possibly broader discussion point, which may apply to multiple projects, and capture the attention of others on the forum who might not be reading about this particular development.
I'm not certain I understand your point about stylistic politics - I'm not sure what that means exactly. Are you referring to the consistent mis-information about what will be on the site formerly housing the bata building, parking and grounds? The tactic is stylistic indeed! LOL!
ProjectEnd
Superstar
I'm not sure who (if anyone) cares which of these two structures is placed down on the former Bata site since it doesn't change the fact that a piece of our dwindling modernist heritage was destroyed to make way for it.
urbanvillageboy
New Member
i think this discussion is taking on a nasty tone which is really unnecessary. It's a shame that the Bata building was demolished and if this project is built, it will likely add a couple of well designed structures, probably worth talking about. The real question is why this is taking so long and it's likely not oil. Some real information from Walli would be help towards that end.
walli
Active Member
ProjectEnd, my comment regarding the buildings was with respect to your prior comment which specifically spoke to the Maki building. Here is the quote:
Urbanvillageboy, your comment "it's likely not oil" doesn't make sense what so ever - though perhaps I am missing something. If there is substance to the comment, please elaborate.
I agree. Unfortunately I'm not directly connected with the project, but 3xotic has mentioned previously that he does have some direct inside connections. He did provide some commentary earlier about project timing - an update would be nice. 3xotic?