“Royal Ontario Museum” by Daniel MacDonald is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Toronto Canada’s Royal Ontario Museum merges old with new in a startling way. The Crystal as the new addition is called seems to burst forth from the older style building, originally constructed in 1914. The various angles were attained by lifting the steel beams one by one to their positions.
The Crystal actually isn’t attached to the original building except for bridges which connect them. Due to its engineering complexity, it is considered to be one of the most challenging construction projects in North America.
“Royal Ontario Museum 5” by Tony Hisgett is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Architect Daniel Libeskind sketched the design on a napkin while attending a wedding at the Royal Ontario Museum. No novice to museum design, he is known for designing the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Imperial War Museum, and Denver Art Museum, among others. He was also selected as the master planner for rebuilding the World Trade Center in New York City.
So why the juxtaposition of the wild new addition with the more historical original building? Why try and merge the two? It seems that through this unusual pairing the ROM is trying to express the idea that old and new go together. They believe that by understanding the old we can better step forward into creating something new. Who better to understand this than a museum.
