High 18°/Low 11°     Hero: The ROM Crystal (Exterior)
Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains
of 2007––the people, places, and things that we’ve either fallen
head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage
towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting
Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a
day––sunrise, noon, and sunset. “Initially, when I saw the
design, I was most reticent.” Those words were Michael Lee-
Chin’s, on Daniel Libeskind’s concept for the ROM––and that’s
probably putting it politely. The Crystal is a building that’s
easy to hate: derivative of Libeskind’s other work, inspired by
a napkin scribble, slapped on top of a gorgeous old building,
not all glass as hoped, and wildly attention-grabbing in a city
that likes its buildings straight up and down rather than wildly
angular. The thing was practically asking for it. But the ROM
Crystal is a grower, not a shower, and it’s just what we need:
an architectural icon, and a new legen