Culture City: New Toronto Buildings

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

Culture is at the centre of city-building in Toronto, with six major capital projects underway and five others recently completed or in the planning stage. In an unprecedented display of cultural critical mass, the Art Gallery of Ontario will bring all of these projects together for the exhibition Culture City: New Toronto Buildings, opening March 9 and continuing through December.

The exhibition will feature scale models of expansion projects undertaken by six world-recognized Ontario cultural institutions the Art Gallery of Ontario, Canadian Opera Company, Canada’s National Ballet School, Royal Conservatory of Music, Royal Ontario Museum and Toronto International Film Festival Group. The five other institutions the Gardiner Museum, Ontario College of Art and Design, Ontario Science Centre, Roy Thomson Hall and Young Centre for the Performing Arts will be represented by large-scale colour photographs. A map of the city will situate each project, illustrating the remarkable physical impact of this cultural transformation.

Collectively, these institutions represent a major driving force for the cultural strength of the province and the nation, and their social and economic impacts will be palpable,” says Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO’s Michael and Sonja Koerner Director, and CEO. Our new galleries and museums, film centres, concert halls and classrooms will generate compelling programs that unite cultures and encourage dialogue through the catalyst of creativity. Together, they send a clear and reverberating message to cities large and small that culture can drive the economic and social growth of our communities. The AGO is proud to help tell the story of this rare and wonderful cultural moment.”

The support of the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario for these projects, combined with generous contributions from individuals and corporations, has created a special public sector/private sector partnership that provides the necessary momentum to make these projects a reality.

Images:

[1] Soulpepper Theatre Company & George Brown College, Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects. Image: © Tom Arban/Tom Arban Photography 2006

[2]Toronto International Film Festival Group, Festival Centre, Festival Tower, Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects. Image: KPMB

[3] Canada’s National Ballet School, Project Grand Jeté, Stage I - Jarvis Street Campus, Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects/Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects, KPMB/GBCA Architects in Joint Venture. Image: Tom Arban © Tom Arban Photography

[4] Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Diamond and Schmitt Architects Inc. Image: AMD

[5] Ontario College of Art & Design, Campus Redevelopment, featuring the Sharp Centre for Design, Alsop Architects in a joint venture with Robbie/Young + Wright Architects Inc. Image: Richard Johnson

[6] Royal Conservatory of Music, The TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects. Image: KPMB Architects/Q Studio

[7] Art Gallery of Ontario, Transformation AGO, Gehry Partners, LLP. Image: Gehry Partners, LLP

[8] Royal Ontario Museum, Renaissance ROM, Studio of Daniel Libeskind, in a joint venture with Bregman + Hamann Architects (Toronto). Image: Miller Hare

[9] Roy Thomson Hall, Enhancement Project 2002, Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects. Image Credit: Cliff Spicer