O-tac
Active Member
Is it weird I liked the darkness inside before? I also really liked the crystal staircase. It made it feel like you were in a strange alternate dimension or place.
Glenbow Museum | 43m | 9s | DIALOG
- Thread starter MichaelS
- Start date
Is it weird I liked the darkness inside before? I also really liked the crystal staircase. It made it feel like you were in a strange alternate dimension or place.
There was lots to like about the old one - the chandelier thing, the rocks and gems, the concrete/midcentury touches on the outside of the building. But it also had the dirtiest carpet I've ever seen in a public building, and the access was just strange. I'm happy the museum is finally going to have a front door, and some interaction with Stephen Ave.
Terrible lighting for update pics, but still looks promising.
FCC1982
Active Member
Great to see more of the new cladding installed recently - it was proceeding at a crawl previously.
The Familia
Senior Member
Meah, it’s definitely better than before, and should look even better when it’s fully complete. However, I’m a little disappointed in the execution of the facade. I don’t like the mix-mash of windows and mesh that circle the top floor (I don’t think those appeared in the renderings). I also find the gaps too big between the tiles. The renderings made the entire exterior appear very flush, flat, and uniform, it doesn’t look that way to me. The waves themselves are also more subdued than I was imagining.
Looking forward to the ground floor treatment and the windows, but as it stands, I’m giving the tiles a 7/10 for now.
Looking forward to the ground floor treatment and the windows, but as it stands, I’m giving the tiles a 7/10 for now.
DiscoStu
Active Member
Yeah, the gaps in the facade tiles really kill the flow. I'm still hoping that they add some white grout or something at the end to minimize the grid pattern.
I was never particularly enamoured by this design, but in the end it's the inside that will make or break it.
I was never particularly enamoured by this design, but in the end it's the inside that will make or break it.
BKha
Active Member
I like the look of it so far. It’s nice and simple and has elegance to it, I agree with disco stu that some sort of grout or filling in the cracks will make a big difference but other than that, I really like it.
Framing for side pocket underway.
CBBarnett
Senior Member
I know we are still a whiles away yet, but do we have a sense on the programming changes that will accompany this renovation?
For local museums it's the insides where we usually underperform, not the cool exterior materials (looking at you NMC). This is subjective of course, but I found the former Glenbow wasn't just dated on the outside, but it's mixture of displays was also dated and uninteresting.
Part of our issue is that most of the big museums tend to dedicate some or all their main focus to the same narrow theme - stampede/western/local heritage. Glenbow, Fort Calgary, Heritage Park, the actual Stampede all have part of that picture. Nothing wrong with that, but makes it harder for any of them to materially stand out as a "must-see" museum - they also all compete for dollars so we end up with 4 meh museums than one larger more extensive one.
Would be cool if the Glenbow and the significant Arts Common project nearby really took a strong lead over the others and create the "must see" destination all right in the core, right in the tourist and nightlife districts. It just will take more than a shiny building to pull off.
For local museums it's the insides where we usually underperform, not the cool exterior materials (looking at you NMC). This is subjective of course, but I found the former Glenbow wasn't just dated on the outside, but it's mixture of displays was also dated and uninteresting.
Part of our issue is that most of the big museums tend to dedicate some or all their main focus to the same narrow theme - stampede/western/local heritage. Glenbow, Fort Calgary, Heritage Park, the actual Stampede all have part of that picture. Nothing wrong with that, but makes it harder for any of them to materially stand out as a "must-see" museum - they also all compete for dollars so we end up with 4 meh museums than one larger more extensive one.
Would be cool if the Glenbow and the significant Arts Common project nearby really took a strong lead over the others and create the "must see" destination all right in the core, right in the tourist and nightlife districts. It just will take more than a shiny building to pull off.
I'll start by saying I have no interest in Fort Calgary. It's fake and a terrible use of downtown land. But on the other hand I do love Heritage Park. The location is scenic (though not historic in itself). Still, that is not the point of the park so much as the buildings, the rides, and the vintage cars, ferry, streetcar and steam train, which are all a part of Canadian and not just local heritage.
The Glenbow does have some good pieces in its collection. I agree it is western Canadian landscape focused though, with the group of seven featuring prominently. It can get boring, and I don't know if that will improve with the new space.
My favourite local public gallery is probably the Esker.
The Glenbow does have some good pieces in its collection. I agree it is western Canadian landscape focused though, with the group of seven featuring prominently. It can get boring, and I don't know if that will improve with the new space.
My favourite local public gallery is probably the Esker.
DiscoStu
Active Member
Yeah, they really should just fold anything Fort Calgary related to Heritage Park, and redevelop the whole area into a cool festival/athletic park or something. I work across the street, and LOVE history, yet still can't muster up the energy to visit this place. Heritage Park does feel more like a theme park, but I think they do a great job.
The last time I was at the Glenbow was to see the Vivian Maier exhibit just before Covid hit. I thought it was pretty great. I actually didn't mind the older collections either, but agree it felt a bit stuffy and dark. I'm hoping the Glenbow turns into something closer to what the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton is. As much as I hate that city, that museum is pretty solid.
Efficiency wise, it basically should probably come to this:
Heritage Park = Old timey Calgary/Alberta/Indigenous history
Glenbow = Established Culture/History/Classical Art museum and bigger travelling exhibits of classical art. Ie our "Museum of Natural History".
Contemporary Calgary (maybe merged with Esker?) = Modern art + travelling exhibits of Modern/Contemporary art. Ie. Our MOMA. Ideally they could find a way to exhibit the University of Lethbridge's Modern art collection.
NMC = Anything, everything, music. Gotta find some way to make it more enticing for repeat visits though.
The last time I was at the Glenbow was to see the Vivian Maier exhibit just before Covid hit. I thought it was pretty great. I actually didn't mind the older collections either, but agree it felt a bit stuffy and dark. I'm hoping the Glenbow turns into something closer to what the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton is. As much as I hate that city, that museum is pretty solid.
Efficiency wise, it basically should probably come to this:
Heritage Park = Old timey Calgary/Alberta/Indigenous history
Glenbow = Established Culture/History/Classical Art museum and bigger travelling exhibits of classical art. Ie our "Museum of Natural History".
Contemporary Calgary (maybe merged with Esker?) = Modern art + travelling exhibits of Modern/Contemporary art. Ie. Our MOMA. Ideally they could find a way to exhibit the University of Lethbridge's Modern art collection.
NMC = Anything, everything, music. Gotta find some way to make it more enticing for repeat visits though.
Contemporary Calgary can't seem to program or make use of their space for shit, so I hope they don't merge with the Esker.
CBBarnett
Senior Member
Yeah you don't have to merge everything together, Esker is a small private gallery space so not really the same thing as the Contemporary Calgary.
For our publicly funded cowboy/local history/western culture museums however, there's a benefit to centralizing efforts and also specializing so they don't all blur together and tell a similar story with similar exhibits and focus ares. Really create a unique identify and "must see" thing about each, or close a few down.
The Fort Calgary area, for example, has tons of historic importance, but it really doesn't need a small fort recreation from the 1970s to celebrate that.
potatopizzafan
Active Member
Exterior tiles going up on the north elevation today
