AGO + Gehry = Stimulating Experience

It wasn’t long ago, when a very good friend of mine told me, that visiting the redesigned Ontario Art Gallery was one of the most rewarding experiences he had in the last years, in both art and architecture. He was fascinated with Gehry’s work and after taking some time navigating the net and looking for info on the new AGO, I was too. And if I know you well enough, you will be too.

After two long years of renovation, the Art Gallery of Ontario reopened last November and it was a triumph of redesign, inside and out and as stated in AGO’s website “When art meets architecture, powerful experiences take shape.”

Lets take a look at some of Gallery’s design highlights:

• A new entrance aligned with Walker Court, the historic heart of the AGO, and The Grange, the Gallery’s first home
• A glass and wood façade that spans 600 feet along Dundas Street and rises 70 feet above street level
• A sculpture gallery that extends 450 feet, enabling visitors to see out onto Dundas Street, and passersby to see into the Gallery
  
  
• A new, tinted titanium-and-glass four-storey south wing overlooking Grange Park that will house a centre for contemporary art and offer one of the most beautiful event spaces in the city
• A south façade that complements the new Ontario College of Art and Design building to the southeast, with both buildings framing Grange Park
• Extensive glazing on both the north and south façades to allow visitors to experience the surrounding cityscape from the Gallery interior
• A sculptural staircase that soars from the second floor, linking Walker Court to the new centre for contemporary art and new event space
  
  
• The integration of natural light throughout the building, including a new glass roof over Walker Court and a light-filled walkway around its upper perimeter, bringing light into the core of the building
  
  

The sculptural staircase rises from the second floor of Walker Court, through the glass ceiling and extends to the fifth floor. In designing the signature staircase, Gehry remarked that he hoped its warmth and intimacy would beckon visitors and become a place where people fall in love.