Toronto Gets a Libeskind

For one week this summer, architecture aficionados will be able to check out Daniel Libeskind's newest building, the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, an addition to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, without "distractions." On June 2, the natural history and anthropology museum is holding an "architectural opening and building dedication" and is offering free admission for two days. Like Libeskind's Jewish Museum in Berlin, which remained empty for two years, the new ROM building will house little art (aside from temporary exhibitions) during the opening to allow visitors a chance to appreciate the architecture "in its purest form." Named in honor of board member Michael Lee-Chin, whose donation of $30 million in April 2003 launched the $250-million expansion project, the 175,000-square-foot wing looks remarkably similar to Libeskind's Denver Art Museum building. With its crystalline jumble of intersecting angles, slash windows and aluminum-clad exterior, the structure is nestled within the U shape formed by ROM's 1914 and 1933 buildings. In places, the Crystal seems to burst beyond its boundaries, threatening to overwhelm its neighbors. The building features six collection galleries on four floors, two temporary exhibition spaces, retail and dining facilities, and a four-story interior court.

On June 10, the permanent collection spaces will close for installation of works, though special exhibitions, including a Hiroshi Sugimoto show and "Drama and Desire: Japanese Paintings from the Floating World, 1690-1850," will remain on view. The galleries will reopen in stages over subsequent months, culminating in a spring 2008 opening of the completely installed._stephanieStructure.cash

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