Toronto Royal Ontario Museum | ?m | ?s | Daniel Libeskind

JoeRoe said:
Nothing more intelligent to write?
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Not at all, and btw I didn't mean to be rude, sorry if you took it that way - I made a post about this very topic a year ago, great architecture should be loved, and hated - and it typically is.

Take the new beloved towers in MCC ... believe it or not, a lot of people I ask don't actually like it very much, they say its' different but ugly! Not sure how anyone can reach that conclusion but I've heard it 3 times now ... by **normal** people ... again, great, that makes it all the better :)
 
taal said:
I made a post about this very topic a year ago, great architecture should be loved, and hated - and it typically is.
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Nobody hates the Partenon,the Alhambra, Hagia Sofia, Saint Peter Basilica, Saint Paul, Fallingwater etc. etc. Great architecture we all love and recognize for what it is and we are willing to buy plane tickets to be able to see it.
 
Honestly I'm not sure how true that is :) ... everyone loves history, and there's a lot of history in the places you mentioned? Less Fallingwater ... the house ?? I can tell you without a doubt in my mind not everyone loves that ... but I hope I'm thinking of the wrong thing.

In the examples you state, I'm not even sure if they're great pieces of architecture ... before you jump all over me ... what I mean to say is what makes places like that stand out is the attention to detail ... we just don't build like that anymore ... but really, without that I'd really argue the bones don't stand out as much as you think they would. Also, really, people visit these sites for history as I said above, such modern day wonders are not visited with as much enthusiasm ... unless it's a museum or the like i.e. where the inside attracts.

Anyway, what I'm referring to is not, great architecture ... it's controversial architecture ... and I'll admit that's not necessary the same thing. It's like art to certain degree (modern art) where there's room for some to love and hate it ... What's really interesting is the reasons you seem to dislike it are why I love it, the way it plays with the historic original building - like a cancer or growth, and while you can argue it over powers the older building it does it in a way that makes them both stand out ...
 
JoeRoe said:
Nobody hates the Partenon,the Alhambra, Hagia Sofia, Saint Peter Basilica, Saint Paul, Fallingwater etc. etc. Great architecture we all love and recognize for what it is and we are willing to buy plane tickets to be able to see it.
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To be honest, the older parts of the ROM aren't at that level of "great architecture", either. Which isn't to dismiss them; but rather, to point out your Sunday-painter coffee-table hack notion of "great architecture we all love and recognize".

Oh, and I'm practically willing to buy plane tickets to be able to see this.
 
The ROM addition has achieved one other important thing as well - some pretty vigourous discussion of architecture in this city. Without this bold,cold and brash virus of a thing, and minus the concurrent and antithetical AGO redo, the city would lose iconoclastic reference points. This ought to be one stimulating place to be young and and studying architecture. And it's astonishing to think of the place we were just 10 years ago, and to see the city now, and what it will be in another 10 years with all the planned growth in the eastern bay area . One last thought on the Crystal though, - as much as I'm disappointed, like many others it appears, in the interiors and the new entrance and some of the finishings, I'm happy to see it there on Bloor Street. If buildings become artifacts themselves, this one becomes a candidate.
 
Dear o dear!

I conclude by saying that I hope that the ROM addition lovers don't hold an architectural certificate of practice. Enough damage has already been done to our city. Have a nice weekend you all.
 
JoeRoe said:
I conclude by saying that I hope that the ROM addition lovers don't hold an architectural certificate of practice. Enough damage has already been done to our city. Have a nice weekend you all.
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The ROM addition is as interesting for it's failures as it's successes. I doubt very much that the many young people who fill the place today will ever have these kinds of discussions. For those of us whose remember our first impressions many years ago, we can decide, but only for ourselves , whether " Crystalized " this glass is emptier or fuller.
 
adma said:
What do you think of this building, then?
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Like I said, enough damage has already been done to our city. This concrete building is a good example of architecture that should have been avoided, but look at the plans of the 33 storey condo that will replace it. The only bedroom in the studio unit turns out to be a tiny walk-in closet with a pair of sliding doors opening into the kitchen/living area. The smallness of the apartment is suffocating. Who would want to live in these things and for the price they are asking?
 
JoeRoe said:
Like I said, enough damage has already been done to our city. This concrete building is a good example of architecture that should have been avoided,
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...and with that statement, you've just affirmed my point re the Sunday-painter coffee-table hack school of architectural appreciation/heritage sensitivity/whatever.

"I may not know today's scope of modern heritage, but I know what I like". Droll.
 
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adma said:
...and with that statement, you've just affirmed my point re the Sunday-painter coffee-table hack school of architectural appreciation/heritage sensitivity/whatever.

"I may not know today's scope of modern heritage, but I know what I like". Droll.
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AHAH! I guess you must then trust the officially ordained "Experts": whoever they might happen to be in the contemporary world of "anything goes type of architecture".
 
JoeRoe said:
AHAH! I guess you must then trust the officially ordained "Experts": whoever they might happen to be in the contemporary world of "anything goes type of architecture".
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But note that I referred to modern heritage as well, in the form of an endangered 1960s Brutalist office building. That's nearly half a century old; it's anything but "contemporary".

So, yeah; said "experts" vs reactionary middle-aged grumps who adore Tom Wolfe and Prince Charles and who think articles like this are the bee's knees, and who inadvertently wind up insulting the traditional urban values they uphold...
 
I was staying in Yorkville this weekend and I must say, I love the Crystal.

Its so unique and completely different than what you normally see. Everyone has seen an 'older' building, glass tower, concrete(ugh) but this just felt so fresh. Also the fact that there is such a "love it or hate it" feel with this building makes it even more special.

What must be taken in as well is the ROM is a cultural destination, not a condo or office building. You expect a museum to be some building that is old and heritage-like, but the ROM sets itself apart mostly. I feel the ROM shows the 20th and the 21st century very well.
 
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