H
Hydrogen
Guest
The building has exceeded my expectations. It has been a pleasure watching it go up. I'm glad that it can be celebrated now. Looking forward to the festivities!
Andrew3D
Active Member
I love this shot as I'm in it 
Canuck
Active Member
Driving by at 11 tonight the ROM was being lit up in great colouful patterns. Looked fantastic.
I Agree with Canuck - I drove by at about 10:45 pm, and there were hundreds* of lights set up and being testing. Saturday night should be a lot of fun!
The Sugimoto-Libeskind Conversation was a lot of fun too, although I had to leave at 8, and I missed the end of it. If Andrew or Sean would like to comment on it - that would be great!
anyway, from the Globe...
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Architect, artist trade jabs as Crystal makes debut
VAL ROSS
From Friday's Globe and Mail
June 1, 2007 at 4:54 AM EDT
TORONTO — All the strenuous effort poured into the construction of the Royal Ontario Museum's Michael Lee-Chin Crystal culminated last night in friendly jousting match between the Crystal's architect, Daniel Libeskind, and the first artist to deal with the angular spaces that he created.
Hiroshi Sugimoto told Mr. Libeskind it was hard to design for the new 6,300-square-foot area of the ROM's Institute for Contemporary Culture and install his show History of History.
He said he created a curved wall to display his exhibition of fossils, ancient Japanese masks, scrolls, ritual objects and photos as an act of "revenge."
But added Mr. Sugimoto, "the Crystal is so strong it has survived my attack."
The two men spoke at the gala before the official opening of the ICC, which is at Level 4 of the Crystal (the penthouse as ROM staffers call it).
The ROM's ICC was a brainchild of museum patron Nicole Eaton, and former ROM chair Eddie Goodman. Mrs. Eaton was present last night, with her husband Thor and daughter Cléophée, who is on the ICC board.
Joining them for the small gala were Ron Graham, chairman of the ICC board; philanthropist Jim Temerty; architect Bruce Kuwabara; his wife, Victoria Jackman, chair of the Jackman Foundation (a major ICC patron); and about 100 other guests.
History of History was the right choice to open the ICC, says managing director Kelvin Browne: "Sugimoto's show connects objects of the past to his personal vision - it's a metaphor for the ICC's mandate."
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Anyway...
the jabs were all in good fun, and the two men seemed to be pleased with each other's project. Libeskind said that he thought that Sugimoto's exhibition had raised the bar for exhibit design in the new building. (Hiroshi Sugimoto is an architectural photographer who also designs his exhibit spaces so that his photos also display architecturally.)
I was very glad to be there!
42
*Easily over 100. Likely less than 200.
The Sugimoto-Libeskind Conversation was a lot of fun too, although I had to leave at 8, and I missed the end of it. If Andrew or Sean would like to comment on it - that would be great!
anyway, from the Globe...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Architect, artist trade jabs as Crystal makes debut
VAL ROSS
From Friday's Globe and Mail
June 1, 2007 at 4:54 AM EDT
TORONTO — All the strenuous effort poured into the construction of the Royal Ontario Museum's Michael Lee-Chin Crystal culminated last night in friendly jousting match between the Crystal's architect, Daniel Libeskind, and the first artist to deal with the angular spaces that he created.
Hiroshi Sugimoto told Mr. Libeskind it was hard to design for the new 6,300-square-foot area of the ROM's Institute for Contemporary Culture and install his show History of History.
He said he created a curved wall to display his exhibition of fossils, ancient Japanese masks, scrolls, ritual objects and photos as an act of "revenge."
But added Mr. Sugimoto, "the Crystal is so strong it has survived my attack."
The two men spoke at the gala before the official opening of the ICC, which is at Level 4 of the Crystal (the penthouse as ROM staffers call it).
The ROM's ICC was a brainchild of museum patron Nicole Eaton, and former ROM chair Eddie Goodman. Mrs. Eaton was present last night, with her husband Thor and daughter Cléophée, who is on the ICC board.
Joining them for the small gala were Ron Graham, chairman of the ICC board; philanthropist Jim Temerty; architect Bruce Kuwabara; his wife, Victoria Jackman, chair of the Jackman Foundation (a major ICC patron); and about 100 other guests.
History of History was the right choice to open the ICC, says managing director Kelvin Browne: "Sugimoto's show connects objects of the past to his personal vision - it's a metaphor for the ICC's mandate."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Anyway...
the jabs were all in good fun, and the two men seemed to be pleased with each other's project. Libeskind said that he thought that Sugimoto's exhibition had raised the bar for exhibit design in the new building. (Hiroshi Sugimoto is an architectural photographer who also designs his exhibit spaces so that his photos also display architecturally.)
I was very glad to be there!
42
*Easily over 100. Likely less than 200.
yyzer
Senior Member
'nuther article on rom, with interior pics....
http://www.torontoist.com/archives/2007/05/inside_the_rom.php
http://www.torontoist.com/archives/2007/05/inside_the_rom.php
Bogtrotter
Senior Member
For this 'grand opening'- is there anything to see for the public who cannot buy or get a ticket?
3Dementia
Senior Member
Never thought drywall could be a building highlight, but those interior shots suggest those dusty guys ...and the steel fabricators... deserve spots in the construction hall of fame. Gorgeous.
ShonTron
Moderator
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You'll be glad to know you didn't miss that much more, and caught the gist of it. Libeskind got a few jabs in at Robert Moses when talking about cities as organic, and not things one should change on a big scale (claiming that the works done in New York resulted in overpasses to Long Island that blocked buses, keeping Puerto Ricans out, or swimming pools designed not to make them too comfortable to users). Then Thorsell made a few closing remarks, and that was it. We were out of there by 8:20.
I am really excited now to see Sugimoto's exhibit on the 3rd floor.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
This is the biggest architectural event since the Four Seasons Centre opened last summer. It will remain the biggest architectural event ... until the AGO opens next summer.
ShonTron
Moderator
Member Bio
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- Apr 24, 2007
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- 12,566
- Reaction score
- 9,596
- Location
- Ward 13 - Toronto Centre
That would be in your own opinion, of course. The Four Seasons Centre certainly does not capture the public's imagination like the ROM expansion does - and I think it will still be bigger than AGO's expansion/renovation. The public splash that will be tomorrow will be much bigger than what the COC did.
I'm still going to go with New City Hall as biggest architectural opening up to now.
I'm still going to go with New City Hall as biggest architectural opening up to now.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
No local architectural opening since last summer's opening of the Four Seasons Centre, when thousands of people went to the open house and there was saturation media coverage, has garnered as much attention. So this is the biggest opening since then.
But the opening of the opera house a year ago is old news, as will be the opening of the ROM a year from now when the opening of the AGO becomes the biggest architectural opening since the ROM opened.
But the opening of the opera house a year ago is old news, as will be the opening of the ROM a year from now when the opening of the AGO becomes the biggest architectural opening since the ROM opened.
Sir Novelty Fashion
Senior Member
The attention the opera house received was as much a function of being the culmination of so many years of drama and hand-wringing, as it did the architecture itself. Which I think we can all - without broaching that particular debate again - agree is more functionalist than grandiose starchitecture.
The Opera House and the AGO are cultural landmarks. The ROM, like City Hall, is a landmark-landmark: the kind of funny building a five-year old remembers. Ask yourself: of the whole cultural building spree, which project will have the most impact on the postcard-makers of the city?
The Opera House and the AGO are cultural landmarks. The ROM, like City Hall, is a landmark-landmark: the kind of funny building a five-year old remembers. Ask yourself: of the whole cultural building spree, which project will have the most impact on the postcard-makers of the city?
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
A moot point perhaps. It seems they stopped making new postcards about a decade ago.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
... but if they did:
* City Room at night, glowing like a lantern and full of people, shot from the north west corner of University and Queen.
* OCAD - a shot like the one used on the Design City cover. Perhaps at twilight, with the underbelly gently illuminated.
* The Crystal by day. The Crystal by night. The Crystal from above.
* The south wing of the AGO from Grange Park.
* The AGO's Galleria Italia sculpture gallery, from Dundas.
* OCAD and AGO in the same frame, from Grange Park.
* City Room at night, glowing like a lantern and full of people, shot from the north west corner of University and Queen.
* OCAD - a shot like the one used on the Design City cover. Perhaps at twilight, with the underbelly gently illuminated.
* The Crystal by day. The Crystal by night. The Crystal from above.
* The south wing of the AGO from Grange Park.
* The AGO's Galleria Italia sculpture gallery, from Dundas.
* OCAD and AGO in the same frame, from Grange Park.
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Even if you're more partial to the Four Seasons design or the AGO, you'd have to admit that neither of those projects involved a highly publicized design competition that pitted leading architects against one another.
The ROM project has had all the workings of a really good civic story: first there was something deliciously audacious in Libeskind's entry on a napkin. Then a self-made billionaire from an ethnic minority stepped up and became the principal donor, naming the atrium after his mother. For three years, the erection of those gravity-defying steel girders bowled me over and I sat in the same seat at Pho Hung every month to monitor its progress. Now they're ready to put on one heck of a show, as those photos with the light trucks and sound stage attest. As Sean pointed out, nothing like this has happened here since the opening of new City Hall.
The ROM project has had all the workings of a really good civic story: first there was something deliciously audacious in Libeskind's entry on a napkin. Then a self-made billionaire from an ethnic minority stepped up and became the principal donor, naming the atrium after his mother. For three years, the erection of those gravity-defying steel girders bowled me over and I sat in the same seat at Pho Hung every month to monitor its progress. Now they're ready to put on one heck of a show, as those photos with the light trucks and sound stage attest. As Sean pointed out, nothing like this has happened here since the opening of new City Hall.