By: Tony White Wandering around Facebook the other day I came across Spectacular Places’ page. I was immediately enamored with what I saw. Photos or nature. Photos of monuments. Photos of architecture. Spectacular Places has all things spectacular. I found the link to the website on their page so, of course, I clicked over … and if you’ve already clicked the link you’re probably no longer reading this blog and you know what my next few hours was spent doing. One of the pictures was of The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Wait, is that what I think it is? That looks like a giant crystal has fallen from space and jammed into the ground next to the ROM. No, that has to be Photoshopped. That looks like something from the set of Superman, The Movie, the real Superman movie series, by the way, the one with Christopher Reeve… I digress. Off I am on another internet adventure to see if what I’m seeing is real or Photoshopped. Oh, it’s real alright. The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal is a part of the renovation/expansion of the ROM and is the brain child of Daniel Libeskind of Berlin-based Studio Daniel Libeskind and Ground Zero Master Plan acclaim. As you can imagine, the… uh hum… addition was not without its share of controversy. Oddly, the ROM has gone through this type of controversy with previous additions. What now looks like a standard run-of-the-mill addition, at one time was cutting edge. Will the Crystal at some point follow this same path? Will it become passé? Here are some of my favorite structures/buildings that initially were met with controversy but are now accepted:
- EMP Museum, Seattle;
- Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA;
- The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao;
- Louvre Pyramid, Paris France;
- Eiffel Tower, Paris, France;
- The Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain;
- TWA Flight Center, NYC;
- Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO;
- Burj Al Arab, Dubai, UAE;
- Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia;
- Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India;
- Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
Which buildings/structures would you add to the list?