The Crystal

Renovation of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, an extension of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (2007, Daniel Libeskind). It's called the Crystal because it's spiky. Here's a view of its spikiness:
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Widely reviled by Torontonians, it nevertheless appeals to tourists. Tourism is a big industry here, so it's got that going for it.

Despite my general admiration of Libeskind's work, I think he missed the target here. In particular, even the building's admirers admit it is impractical as part of a museum.

The Washington Post chose this building as the worst of its decade. On the other hand, it has its supporters. Christopher Hume of the Toronto Star, for example contended that it "seemed to express a desire to bring not just the museum, not just the corner of Bloor and Avenue Road, but the whole city, into the 21st century without diminishing the past". Which is as may be, but it seems to me that whether it has achieved that desire is still an open question (to be fair, Hume seems to think so, too).

I think it looks better with the scaffolding (seriously, the rectangles create tension with the less regular geometry of the building). Maybe the ROM could be persuaded to leave it up.