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I attended an architectural presentation last night, at the Royal Ontario Museum, in downtown Toronto. A major design competition now is in its final two weeks. Three firms are presenting their detailed plans for renovation and expansion of the museum, a project headlined as Renaissance ROM. Culled from dozens of respondents who were in the original pool of architects, the three remaining firms have starkly contrasting views of how to expand the space and maintain respect for the heritage of the two original wings of the museum.
Presenting last night was Andrea Bruno Architects, from Turin Italy. He used a translator, which was fine, except that the rambling discourse and disjointed visuals were somewhat incomprehensible. Yes, I understood his idea of a roofline as a unity over underground vaults, something he pioneered in a small project in Cyprus, apparently, but such references seemed out of context for a major urban project.
Bruno's entranceway on Bloor Street struck me as being utterly undistinguished, and the intersection of a Totem pole through the roofline at entrance was simply bizarre. OK, I'm no trained critic but this proposal is going nowhere, I hope.
There is another presentation tonight and I will be there to gauge its potential 1:50:00 PM 
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