One of my favourite places to visit and shoot is The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The ROM is the largest museum in Canada, and one of the largest in North America. Officially opened in 1914, it currently receives more than 1 million visitors annually, many of whom arrive via another personal favourite – Museum Station.

When it opened in 1963, Museum Station was designed with the same colour and tiling scheme as most other Toronto subway stations. It wasn’t until 2007-08, when it was renovated using designs by Toronto architect firm Diamond and Schmitt, that a visit to the station became an event in itself.

The station columns were covered with designs to look like artifacts from Asia, The Middle East, Europe as well as North and South America. To complement this, the original tiling on the walls of the station was replaced with aluminum plating with lettering showing the name of the station built in. The lettering also contained hieroglyphics.

 

In addition to the interior design changes, artistic bicycle racks were installed at street level outside the station. They were designed by Toronto artists Jack Gibney and Phil Sarazen and each (there are 12 in total) resembles a museum exhibit or artifact.

 

Changes to the street and station were not the only things happening in 2007-2008. It was at this time that the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal opened as the new entrance to the ROM. The structure was designed by Daniel Libeskind as part of a museum renaissance and revival program and was supposed to bridge the gap between the open space of the street and the more private structure of the original Museum building.

The success of that plan was (and still is) suspect however, as the Crystal has been the source of many controversies over the past 10 years, from its inability to originally withstand the elements, to continued funding issues and the number of people who find it an eyesore. In fact, in 2009, it was voted the 8^thugliest building in the world by VirtualTourist.com and in that same year, the Washington Post gave it the dubious honour of being the “Ugliest Building of the Decade.”

 

Personally, while I originally found the Crystal… let’s say odd…it has grown on me in certain respects and I find its scale impressive from street level. I also thing it’s a great structure to shoot because of the infinite possibilities its angles and glass offer photographers.

 

Interestingly, (or maybe ironically), only a decade after it opened, changes had to be made to the entrance of the Crystal to allow for smoother entry to the ROM. As well, because of the demands of the crowds, the original Westin Entrance, which had been closed since the Crystal opened, was redesigned and re-opened in late 2017.

The 2 entrances to the ROM could not be more architecturally disparate and in my opinion, look like they belong to 2 different buildings.

These differences also extend to the interior design of each entrance – which I will delve into in my next post in this series! 

 

Until then, please share your thoughts this post – I’d appreciate hearing what you liked about it! As well, I’d love to see any great shots you have of Museum Station and the Chin Crystal!

 

Don’t forget to click like and recommend Jonathon C Photography to your friends or someone you know who may find it interesting.

 

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