Oh come on ... the space inside the Crystal is horrible. The building is interesting enough (though the finish seems mundane ... it was far more interesting from the outside when it was still structural steel!). But the usable space inside? The actual volume of space provided seems small compared to the building. And much of the new space is taken up by the exhibition hall in the basement (which works reasonably) and the new entrance hall (which while spacious, has some major problems ... the lack of a washroom for example ... last time I was there, I needed to change a baby before putting on winter clothes an hour before the store closed, but as they were shooing everyone out of the galleries; and they said what I needed to do was walk across the street and use the bathroom in the McDonald's across the street!). Not necessarily the architects fault, but typical of the design failings of the extension.
An interesting experiment, but as usuable gallery space, it seems a complete fail to me; and I'm sure that a dozen Toronto-based architects could have provided something better. In comparison the new entrance hall at the Louvre is a wonderful use of space, that closed quadrangle at the British Museum is magnificent, the new British Library is wonderful space, and the AGO extension is light-years ahead. Even the new opera hall at Queen/University is some great space inside ... though the outside is pretty dull.
Sacrificing usable space for fantastic visuals isn't necessary.
