(Originally published in TOURISM)
What better gift for a city than to turn one of its most venerable cultural institutions into the equivalent of a hip and hopefully well-trodden 21st Century public square. That is how director and CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum William Thorsell envisions the aptly-named Renaissance ROM initiative.
“This institution is mandated to be a universal museum of culture, reaching into places like Africa, Asia and into the traditions of Canada’s First Peoples. It also remains one the leading museums of natural history in North America, where the structure of the earth and its minerals can be explored and visitors may journey from the days of the dinosaurs to the fascinating realm of modern bio‑diversity.
"This project is about completely remaking both mandates, by renovating the original wings of the Museum (built in 1914 and 1933), and then creating a whole new, very dramatic architectural statement. This brings the museum right into the city and takes a facility – built almost like a fortress – into a whole new domain, establishing new galleries, restaurants, and retail components. These are places where music, dining and enhanced social activities become possible; we see it very much as an act of city‑building," says Thorsell.
The new Michel Lee‑Chin Crystal, scheduled to open on June 2, will feature great openings of glass that will allow visitors and passers‑by to look through the walls of the museum into the Dinosaur Gallery at night. “As their eyes scan the wall from outside, they will be able to look into the Africa gallery; and above into the costumes and textiles gallery. So it is a very open, urban, transparent kind of gesture to the city.”
On the roof, in one of the crystals, Thorsell describes how visitors in the new Crystal Five Restaurant Lounge will be able to look out over the city: “You can have a "ROMtini" on the roof, have dinner there, or go downstairs to watch a film. The ROM will now have five crystalline shapes locked together in different relationships.
The experience the ROM wishes to convey is one of awe at both culture and nature. “If you look at our minerals collection," Thorsell continues, "we will put out 1,500 samples of different minerals from all over the world. We hope visitors will marvel at how the earth creates these minerals, this jewellery of the earth. You might go from there to the fabulous collection of Chinese temple paintings of the Buddha, then find yourself a little later walking among the 63‑million‑year‑old remains of dinosaurs from Alberta’s fossil beds. You might then take a look at some of the fabulous fashion from the 1950s, all the way back to the work of Marie‑Antoinette’s dressmaker.”
The Renaissance ROM campaign has raised nearly $250 million so far. In all, there will be 27 new and renovated galleries, 10 of which have opened since December 2005. By the time the new ones are completed in 2008‑2009, the ROM will have come closer to realizing the vision of inclusiveness to which it aspires.
“Our cities are becoming very diverse places, with different groups of people moving into them from all over the world," points out Thorsell. He feels that museums have the capacity to become what the churches used to be – a "common ground" reaching into music, arts and science. "Museums should not turn their backs on cities; rather, they should open themselves up and engage them!”
What better gift for a city than to turn one of its most venerable cultural institutions into the equivalent of a hip and hopefully well-trodden 21st Century public square. That is how director and CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum William Thorsell envisions the aptly-named Renaissance ROM initiative.
“This institution is mandated to be a universal museum of culture, reaching into places like Africa, Asia and into the traditions of Canada’s First Peoples. It also remains one the leading museums of natural history in North America, where the structure of the earth and its minerals can be explored and visitors may journey from the days of the dinosaurs to the fascinating realm of modern bio‑diversity.
"This project is about completely remaking both mandates, by renovating the original wings of the Museum (built in 1914 and 1933), and then creating a whole new, very dramatic architectural statement. This brings the museum right into the city and takes a facility – built almost like a fortress – into a whole new domain, establishing new galleries, restaurants, and retail components. These are places where music, dining and enhanced social activities become possible; we see it very much as an act of city‑building," says Thorsell.
The new Michel Lee‑Chin Crystal, scheduled to open on June 2, will feature great openings of glass that will allow visitors and passers‑by to look through the walls of the museum into the Dinosaur Gallery at night. “As their eyes scan the wall from outside, they will be able to look into the Africa gallery; and above into the costumes and textiles gallery. So it is a very open, urban, transparent kind of gesture to the city.”
On the roof, in one of the crystals, Thorsell describes how visitors in the new Crystal Five Restaurant Lounge will be able to look out over the city: “You can have a "ROMtini" on the roof, have dinner there, or go downstairs to watch a film. The ROM will now have five crystalline shapes locked together in different relationships.
The experience the ROM wishes to convey is one of awe at both culture and nature. “If you look at our minerals collection," Thorsell continues, "we will put out 1,500 samples of different minerals from all over the world. We hope visitors will marvel at how the earth creates these minerals, this jewellery of the earth. You might go from there to the fabulous collection of Chinese temple paintings of the Buddha, then find yourself a little later walking among the 63‑million‑year‑old remains of dinosaurs from Alberta’s fossil beds. You might then take a look at some of the fabulous fashion from the 1950s, all the way back to the work of Marie‑Antoinette’s dressmaker.”
The Renaissance ROM campaign has raised nearly $250 million so far. In all, there will be 27 new and renovated galleries, 10 of which have opened since December 2005. By the time the new ones are completed in 2008‑2009, the ROM will have come closer to realizing the vision of inclusiveness to which it aspires.
“Our cities are becoming very diverse places, with different groups of people moving into them from all over the world," points out Thorsell. He feels that museums have the capacity to become what the churches used to be – a "common ground" reaching into music, arts and science. "Museums should not turn their backs on cities; rather, they should open themselves up and engage them!”
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