Renovated AGO is wetter, quieter than expected
Posted: March 09, 2009, 7:16 PM by Rob Roberts
Perched in the basket of a zoom boom high above Dundas Street West, two workers used putty knives today to wedge lengths of black rubber weather stripping into the spaces between the huge panes of glass that cover the front of the new Art Gallery of Ontario.
On the other side of the glass, four young men, naked from the waist up, stood in provocative poses on step ladders in the Galleria Italia, as part of a $500,000 shoot promoting Canada’s Next Top Model.
It was just another day at the AGO.
Frank Gehry, the Toronto-born architect, opened his Transformation AGO in November. Today it appears that, similar to George W. Bush’s famous 2003 “Mission Accomplished†pose early during the Iraq war, Mr. Gehry’s ribbon-cutting here was a bit premature.
The AGO is still under construction. Every time I go by on the Dundas streetcar, I see scaffolding, cranes and workers. And now they have issues with condensation.
Among 500 double-paned windows on the building’s new façade, each about 2 X 3 metres, eight had some sagging, which means one layer of glass is touching the other layer, causing moisture on the inside.
And two spiral staircases at rear of the AGO, sinuous marvels in curved glass, have more serious condensation problems in cold weather.
“The problem is not with Ellis Don,†Manny Rodrigues, a construction worker with the company, told me today, when I met him in back of the gallery. “We just put what Mr. Gehry says. The fabricators don’t make double-glazed, curved glass. So it’s all single-pane. It’s cold on the outside and warm on the inside, so you get condensation. They will have to figure out the solution in Los Angeles [where Mr. Gehry has his studio].â€
Mike Mahoney, senior project manager for the AGO redesign, said today there is no design problem.
“In the first year of any new building, you go through tweaking and fine-tuning,†he said.
Asked about the condensation on the spiral staircases, he said, “We need to rebalance the air and add some more heat. It’s like, you hop in your car, turn on the defroster at high speed to remove any condensation on the inside of the glass.â€
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007 sued Mr. Gehry, alleging serious design flaws in its Stata Center -- for which it paid him US$15-million -- over what the school called persistent leaks, drainage problems and mould growing on its brick exterior. Mr. Gehry’s office in L.A. said he was not immediately available for comment.
Asked about problems with other Gehry buildings, the AGO’s Mr. Mahoney said, “I won’t go there because I don’t know other Gehry projects. I’m not familiar with those issues and there is always two sides to every story.†As for condensation at the AGO, he said, “You have to agree it’s been a pretty tough winter. We put in 50,000 square feet of glass in this building. We’re not talking about leaks, we’re talking about some condensation in some spots.â€
Certainly the new AGO is a spellbinding place, offering a divine home to the Group of Seven, among other marvels. Unfortunately, the gallery has had fewer visitors than expected, said Susan Bloch-Nevitt, a spokeswoman for the AGO, who blamed the weakening economy.
“Our general numbers are pretty good,†she said. “About 350,000 people have come since it re-opened. I would say overall our attendance is 20% off of what we had hoped. That means less being spent in the restaurant and less being spent in the store.â€
There is one silver lining to all this. Espresso Etc., the ‘‘French Café,’’ across the street, has seen steady business. “The construction orkers are all Latins -- Portuguese and Italians,†the owner told me. “They all come here for their morning espresso.’’
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