page_title: Art Gallery of Ontario
section_title: Reception for redevelopment
hierarchical_section_title: Art Gallery of Ontario / Architecture / Main building / 2004–2008 redevelopment / Reception for redevelopment
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario Art Gallery of Ontario &#160;&#160;Native nameArt Gallery of OntarioLocationTorontoCoordinates43°&#160;39′&#160;14″&#160;N, 79°&#160;23′&#160;34.01″&#160;W &#160;Established1900, renamed 1966Web pagewww.ago.netAuthority control : Q670250 VIAF:&#8201;151879312 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0004 1936 9414 ULAN:&#8201;500245617 LCCN:&#8201;n81063191 NLA:&#8201;35008619 WorldCat institution QS:P195,Q670250
context_page_description: The Art Gallery of Ontario is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beverley streets. The museum's building complex takes up 45,000 square metres of physical space, making it one of the largest art museums in North America. In addition to exhibition spaces, the museum also houses an artist-in-residence office and studio, dining facilities, event spaces, gift shop, library and archives, theatre and lecture hall, research centre, and a workshop.
  Established in 1900 as the Art Museum of Toronto, and formally incorporated in 1903. It was renamed to the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1919, before it adopted its present name, the Art Gallery of Ontario, in 1966. The museum acquired the Grange in 1911 and later undertook several expansions to the north and west of the structure. The first series of expansions occurred in 1918, 1924, and 1935, designed by Darling and Pearson. Since 1974, the gallery has undergone four major expansions and renovations. These expansions occurred in 1974 and 1977 by John C. Parkin, and 1993 by Barton Myers and KPMB Architects.
context_section_description: The completed expansion received wide acclaim, notably for the restraint of its design. An editorial in The Globe and Mail called it a "restrained masterpiece", noting: "The proof of Mr. Gehry's genius lies in his deft adaptation to unusual circumstances. By his standards, it was to be done on the cheap, for a mere $276-million. The museum's administrators and neighbours were adamant that the architect, who is used to being handed whole city blocks for over-the-top titanium confections, produce a lower-key design, sensitive to its context and the gallery's long history."  The Toronto Star called it "the easiest, most effortless and relaxed architectural masterpiece this city has seen", with The Washington Post commenting: "Gehry's real accomplishment in Toronto is the reprogramming of a complicated amalgam of old spaces. That's not sexy, like titanium curves, but it's essential to the project."  The architecture critic of The New York Times wrote: "Rather than a tumultuous creation, this may be one of Mr. Gehry's most gentle and self-possessed designs. It is not a perfect building, yet its billowing glass facade, which evokes a crystal ship drifting through the city, is a masterly example of how to breathe life into a staid old structure.  And its interiors underscore one of the most underrated dimensions of Mr. Gehry's immense talent: a supple feel for context and an ability to balance exuberance with delicious moments of restraint. Instead of tearing apart the old museum, Mr. Gehry carefully threaded new ramps, walkways and stairs through the original."
caption: Walker Court after the 2004 to 2008 redevelopment. The redevelopment saw walkways and staircases "threaded" through the courtyard.
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