Sep '06 - Jan '11
So in the midst of all this Libeskind bashing, I thought I might contribute my part to the hazing. Last weekend, I made a visit to Toronto to visit a friend from school. We decided to go see the brand new Royal Ontario Museum, fresh from being opened no later than a week earlier. Good thing it was five dollar fridays.. because I don't think I would spend more than that to go back again.
They obviously did not finish the building before deadline... but forget scheduled openings for a minute, this building is still months from being finished! they should have not opened it, as I felt I was in the middle of a construction zone. Dirty, stained, unfinished walls, exposed wires, drywall scraps and chipped corners, to name a few.
Aside from these unfinished details that nonetheless take away from the overall feeling of the building, I didn't even like the architecture that much. All Libeskind did was take his crazy shape and cut horizontal slices through it, with hardly any double/triple height volumes. The only interesting places were the inside 'chamber/crystal' or whatever the hell you call it (which was playing eery music.. ooooow!), and the top floor where the ceiling was somewhat dynamic because there wasn't another floor above it. The 'grand stair' felt like a fire escape. The old to new connection was unnoticeable and unresolved in some places. The list goes on and on.
Anyways, they're posted on my flickr. The first half are the good shots of the ROM, the pictures that make me think for a second that maybe it's a good building. But then I look at the second half, the horrible mistakes of the ROM, and I no longer think that. Here are some previews..
The thankfully finished exterior.
The top floor textiles room.
The dirt, the dirt.
and for everyone who was wondering...
They are uncomfortable.. AND THEY DIDN'T ROTATE!!!
9 Comments
WOW!!! i can't believe that they opened in that condition... even if stuff wasn't finished they could have at least had a preliminary final cleaning... those deep windows are ridiculous...
"Please don't worry - New glass on order" PRICELESS
get your feet off the art! i mean furniture. i mean... ahh forget it.
OH look, you do have a blog.....my stepsister goes to Kent State too.
I think that Libeskind and Eisenmann should have a crap design-off.
is that drywall on the bridge pick?
mdler, if by pick you meant pink. no. the walls were white, but the lighting mixed with my lack of photography white balance skills creates a pinkish orange.
Arrgh, I can NOT see any pictures from flickr here in China..... Is it possible you email me some? I would like to see this, thanks in advance, Jeroen.
That top floor textiles room is actually quite cool.
It looks like someone splashed coffee in a fit of rage onto that wall.
I went through your flickr photo set and it looks like a fun building. Fun because it's a giant play house, not an art museum. I wish more people would commission architects to design fun houses and childeren's architecture instead of hiding their secret desires behind the serious title of "museum" or "centre."
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