On the ROM Crystal and Details, Details, Details!

Yesterday marked my first visit to the new ROM Crystal re-design, designed by Daniel Libeskind and ear-marked several million dollars by Michael Lee-Chin.

I was hesitant to visit the ROM up until now because of a number of factors. First and foremost, I wanted to give them some time to move the exhibits in and get things sorted out. I also didn’t want to contend with mobs of people just to get a glimpse at the thing.

Well, as it turns out, I probably should have held out a little longer. I had built up a lot of excitement for seeing the new design, and I’ve already talked about how I thought it was a good thing for the city. I’m all for bold architecture. From what I saw yesterday though, I’m left a little confused, and very disappointed.

About a month ago, just after the opening, my friend Jason described the new look as “like a fracking trailer park… A 0.25 billion dollar trailer park”, talking about tthe shoddy looking metal cladding they’ve used outside (and, as it turns out, inside the structure). I didn’t want to believe this was true, but as it turns out it’s right on the money.

As they say, the devil is in the details, and I feel like Libeskind has missed the mark on that big time. Walking up to the ROM from the East on Bloor Street, you’re immediately greeted with construction fences, hoists, and an enormous mound of dirt. I don’t understand how they could have held an extravagant (and nearly sold out) launch gala with such an unfinished, un-landscaped exterior. One would think that after years of construction, it wouldn’t have taken much effort to lay down some greenery around the building. Yet here we are, over a month after the opening, and the place still looks like a train wreck.

Walking up to the front door, looking up through the (minimal) glass aspects of the Crystal, you see plywood, plywood, and did I mention plywood? The majority of the interior of the structure looks like it’s still under construction, or with them moving in the exhibits, it’s just a disaster. The front doors are what appear to be temporary panes of glass, without so much as a handle to pull the door open.

Examining the outer metal cladding in detail, you can see thousands of tiny screws holding the panels in place. The same goes for the panels used throughout staircases and wall panels throughout the interior of the building. Poorly installed screws at that; You can see scratch marks and scoring from power drills where construction workers were clearly frantically slapping them together. Around the panels, 1/2″ gaps exist that still are filled with dirt and chunks of drywall. Panels are haphazardly slapped together, leaving sharp overhanging edges throughout.

I questioned (and hoped) that the panels were temporary, as they just looked terrible and horribly unfinished. I was hesitant to even post the above photo, which was taken in the top level of the Crystal, which in my opinion is the only part of the building worth seeing. It’s dramatic, and is (thankfully) free of any of the cheap metal cladding that’s so prevalent throughout the rest of the structure. At the same time, it’s totally non-indicative of the level of sloppy incompleteness I witnessed through the rest of the building. I’m going to pepper this post with images of that area though, just to keep myself from losing it all together.

Then there’s the nonsensical and completely useless wires strung to the walls above balcony edges. The only purpose I could think of was to keep people from flinging themselves over the balcony after witnessing this tragedy of a building. One of them was even torn out of the drywall on one side, leaving a gaping hole in the wall.

Every pane of glass and clear plastic inside the crystal was grimy, smeared with fingerprints (on the outside!), and covered in a layer of dust. It’s as if the construction workers finished bolting the place together, then just up and left.

Lastly, I couldn’t even begin to grasp what Libeskind was going for with his custom-designed steel chairs. There’s about a dozen or so of these chairs, and while they’re somewhat visually appealing, the way in which they’re arranged and placed in the building is totally vexing. I couldn’t help but wonder if the money used to design and fabricate these could have instead be put towards finishing the rest of the building properly. They’re all jammed into this tiny, dimly lit room that has a metal-grate floor, looking down towards easily a 3-4 story drop onto a concrete floor. It was a disorienting and confusing, and I just didn’t get it.

Stepping into the “old” ROM, I let out a sigh of relief. It felt like a museum. It felt classical, cared for, and historic. The same can’t be said for the Crystal, which comes across as nothing but a careless, rushed mess. It’s truly a shame what I witnessed yesterday. I was hoping to glow about the brilliant architecture and the revolutionary interior layout, but there will be none of that from me.

I can only hope that after all of the exhibits are installed, that the ROM will have the sense of mind to clean the place up, and put some much needed detail work into the building. Sadly, I think the “trailer park” metal cladding is here to stay and that is so, so unfortunate, for both the ROM, and the city of Toronto. I guess we can start banking on Frank Gehry’s AGO transformation, but I’m not holding my breath.

July 12, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized

Comments

ry c on July 13th, 2007 2:27 pm

totally BTO worthy. You think I could see the gaps and shit from the outside with a 300mm telephoto? If so I’ll snag some closeups for ya.

Adam on July 13th, 2007 2:32 pm

Oh hell yeah. Just walk up to the main doors and look up, you’ll see nothing but dirt and plywood. Check out the staircases on the inside, too, and the walls upstairs (footprints on the walls!)

It’s a photographic goldmine, and I don’t know why I didn’t capture it, I guess I was just in shock.

Sure, snag a few and I’ll cross-post this to BTO.

Leave a Reply