Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The problem of architectural renovations

At times it can seem that the problem of poorly done architectural "renovations" that do not take sufficient consideration of either our cultural heritage, nor the architectural unity and vocabulary of the building (let alone self-critical questions about the styles merit itself) is somehow essentially limited to the domain of ecclesiastical architecture in the West. Of course this is not true, which is of course no consolation whatsoever.

Two things brought this to mind. One is the recent renovations on the Royal Ontario Musuem in Toronto, Canada. Here follows the renovation which encases part of a very stately building -- furnished inside with beautiful gold mosaics, tiled floors, carved pillars and the like.



This recent discussion was brought back to mind when I saw on the blog an Andrew Cusack, The Architects: They Really Hate Us which details a similiar facade renovation of a New York library.

Fortunately, there is still much unspoilt architectural beauty to be found in Toronto, particularly at the University of Toronto:









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