The naysayers are wrong.
Ever since its opening, the giant (nee, GINORMOUS) crystal addition to the Royal Ontario Museum has borne the brunt of much negative reaction…and more about the inside than the outside (which takes some doing).
Whatever one’s opinion of the outside may be, it remains one of the most striking and modern examples of architecture Toronto has ever witnessed. But the inside — with its pure white walls, reaching out at every conceivable angle except the standard 90 degrees - caused even more controversy. The less-than-impressed simply dismissed it as whitewashed, empty nothingness.
But what most critics didn’t realize was that the empty zig-zag interior wasn’t the end of the story. The entire museum was waiting - with baited breath — to be filled. Waiting to have those extraordinary walls enclose something worthy of their crazy-paving construction. The waiting is finally over.
Last night, as I visited the ROM for the first time since the Dinosaur and East Asian galleries were re-opened, I was witness to the genius of the design. Daniel Liebskind’s architecture isn’t a frame on which to hang paintings or bolt tapestries (hard as it may be to believe). It has forced the ROM curators to create 360 degree exhibit islands, that can be accessed from all sides, and all approaches. Surrounded by the stark white walls, the magnificent dinosaurs and the exquisite Arabian & Indian artifacts have been assembled into mini-environments, self-contained yet part of a greater whole. Multiple walks are now possible throughout the exhibits, and transparent cases allow nothing to be hidden, no matter where you are in the museum. It’s like a series of classical paintings, in picture frames straight out of Picasso’s imagination. Walls that aren’t meant to display things…but to accentuate them.
The entire museum is heading in this direction - taking advantage of new visibility & sight-lines to enhance both the old & the new architecture. But the best trick of all is the way the old and the new meld when the walls literally rub against each other. The fabulous main atrium is composed of the original WWI-era outside wall, morphing out of the high angles of the crystal. Assorted balconies, walkways, and new windows have created unexpected views that take eye candy in a new direction. It also allows for some surprising accessibility, by highlighting the original structure as the best artifact in the entire museum! I watched as people literally reached out and touched the old brick work, and holding animated conversations about how fascinating it was to see the solid, original walls poking into the ultra-modern white interiors of the new addition…or how the crystal delightfully spikes into the original sections of the building. There is surprisingly no conflict in this melding of the old and new - instead, there is fascination, appreciation, and furious debate. A work of art in every conceivable way.
So count me out of the naysayers category. I love (nee, ADORE) my gothic, traditional, neo-classical architecture…but the new ROM - crystal & all — is a worthy addition. It makes a slightly stodgy old building into an astonishing & fantastic structure. The fusion could have been outrageous…but in reality, it’s avant-garde and delightful. And YES…it can be both! 
