The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, the ROM's steel and glass addition that has won more acclaim internationally than at home, has been picked as one of the seven new wonders of the architecture world by Conde Nast Traveler. National Post | Other treasures with pics after the jump...
Thomas Payne, founding partner at Toronto architecture firm KPMB Architects, was surprised the Crystal made the list.
"My list wouldn't include it," he said. "This is the commodification of architecture, where the expression of the architect dominates all. It's not about an architecture that's struggling to deal with its context."
CN Traveler's other picks include (article here):
Cumulus Building, Danfoss Universe, Nordborg, Denmark
Burj Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Wembley Museum, London, England
New Museum, New York City, United States
Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., United States
Red Ribbon, Tanghe River Park, Qinhuangdao, China
7 Comments
Zoom out from that image a little and you would see two KPMB buildings that struggle to be considered architecture. Kudos to Studio Libeskind's for producing one of the few buildings in town that do not fall into the Toronto trope that old boys like Payne have being forging for years.
I love the Red Ribbon project. Not sure where i saw it first...
a treasure yes. my wv bretheren often find "treasures" whilse dumpster diving.
k.doran:
yes, the KPMB projects (the addition to the royal conservatory of music and the gardiner museum) are unimaginative and predictable aesthetically, but that doesn't make libeskind's ROM any less of an atrocity. i think it's a pity-pick for canada, or starchitect-designed museums in general, since others have been getting even worse press (like libeskind's denver art museum: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/arts/design/12libe.html)
how can you give kudos to libeskind for breaking the 'toronto trope' when every project of his is exactly the same, or as the new york times puts it, "a caricature of his own aesthetic"?
shift.ops:
my comment was directed towards Payne's statement, and by no means should it be considered a defense or praise for the ROM. Danny's caricature is the building all Torontonians seem to have an opinion on, not the Opera House (Diamond+Schmidt), the Gardiner (KPMB) or all the other Generic cultural buildings being thrown up as a part of the self described 'renaisance.'
as far as atrocities:
http://www.kpmb.com/index.asp?navid=30&fid1=40&fid2=15
i'm a bit surprised that they would add the burj dubai to the list when the building has not yet actually finished construction.
k.doran:
definitely agree with you there. i think buildings like alsop's OCAD have merit here because they challenge the toronto 'old guard' that you're talking about; i just don't see the ROM as an expression of that progressiveness because it's so cookie-cutter in its own way.
however i have to root for the ROM because its success will lead to better commissions in toronto, instead of seeing the projects you mentioned.
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