Today Mom, Paul, and I headed into Toronto to see the new galleries at the Royal Ontario Museum (known as the ROM). The Lee-Chin Crystal is part of Renaissance ROM, the Museum's renovation and expansion project. Considered to be one of the most challenging construction projects in North America for its engineering complexity and innovative methods, the Lee-Chin Crystal is composed of five interlocking, self-supporting prismatic structures that co-exist but are not attached to the original ROM building, except for the bridges that link them.
One of the fascinating things about this wonderful new addition is the story behind it. Inspired by the ROM’s gem and mineral collection, architect Daniel Libeskind sketched the initial concept on paper napkins while attending a family wedding at the ROM. The design was quickly dubbed the 'crystal' because of its crystalline shape.
The exterior is 25% glass and 75% extruded-brushed, aluminum-cladding strips in a warm silver colour. The steel beams, each unique in its design and manufacture and ranging from 1 to 25 metres in length, were lifted one by one to their specific angle, creating complicated angle joints, sloped walls, and gallery ceilings. Approximately 3,500 tons of steel and 38 tons of bolts were used to create the skeleton, and roughly 9,000 cubic metres of concrete were poured.
While the exterior is fascinating it was the insides that we were wanting to explore on this cold January day. We paid the admission fee and went to see the recently opened Dinosaur exhibit. This dramatic new space leans out over Bloor Street W., offering visitors a glimpse into the gallery even before entering the Museum. Once inside, visitors encounter 350 specimens, including 50 dinosaur specimens, of which 25 are fully-mounted skeletons. The 5.4-metre (18-foot) ceiling inside the gallery is high enough to accommodate the tallest specimens while allowing others to be suspended artistically overhead.
Most of the dinosaur fossils are divided into one of two themes, Life on Land and Life in the Sea and range from the Jurassic (200 to 145 million years old) to the Cretaceous (145 to 65 million years old) periods. Triassic period fossils (250 to 200 million years old) will be shown in another gallery to open in 2009.
One of the highlights is “Gordo”, the Museum's massive 27-metre (90-foot) Barosaurus skeleton, the largest dinosaur on permanent display in Canada and one of only two Barosaurus skeletons on display in the world. Several of the dinosaurs on display are long-time ROM residents that have been remounted for the new display including Albertosaurus, Corythosaurus and a number of hadrosaurs that are easily recognizable by their distinctive tubular head crest, some measuring over one metre long. The most well-known hadrosaur, Parasaurolophus, a very rare species, is one of the ROM's best and most complete specimens. Other featured specimens on display include the full skeleton cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex and a real Triceratops skull.
The Temerty Dinosaur Galleries also includes nearly 300 fossils of other life forms, including other terrestrial reptiles, plants, and insects that shared the land with the dinosaurs. An expanded marine section displays fossils of marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, as well as fish and numerous invertebrates, many of which provided food for the reptiles. Visitors can view one of the Museum’s newest specimens, the six-metre (20-foot) ichthyosaur, Eurhinosaurus longirostris from the early Jurassic period (approximately 180 million years ago), which the Museum acquired through the assistance of the Louise Hawley Stone Charitable Trust.
Four interactive audio/visual stations add a dynamic new way to discover the gallery's specimens. A series of short and engaging video segments reveal how dinosaurs may have walked and interacted and feature fascinating overviews of more than 12 dinosaurs and other creatures. Explanations are provided by curatorial staff from the ROM’s Palaeobiology section. Integrated with the surrounding exhibits, touch-screens allow visitors to choose a subject that interests them and discover fun facts on each of these ancient creatures.
Other areas of the gallery include TD Bank Financial Group Continents Adrift Exhibits, the Evolution of Birds, and K-T Extinction, which discusses the events that may have led to the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period. This leads visitors into the next gallery, Age of Mammals, which picks up the story of evolution at this point.
Neither mom or I had voiced it but it turns out both of us were anxious to see what had been done with the fabulous mosaic which used to be on the vaulted ceiling of the old entrance. For more than 80 years visitors entering the museum looked up and saw a beautiful shimmering mosaic which depicted the ROM's mandate in vivid colour. Leaving the dinos, we made our way to the new Canadian and First nations galleries. Before we entered, we looked up and saw the mosaic in all of its glory. The folks at the ROM have done a fabulous job of embracing the new while at the same time as respecting the old.
