Royal Alberta Museum design competition in retrospect

[IanO]

Looking back, who would you have chosen today?

Moriyama & Teshima Architects of Ontario and Architecture/Arndt Tkalcic Bengert of Alberta, Maki & Associates of Japan (Architecture), Museum Planning Partners of Ontario

Laing O’Rourke of the United Kingdom, IBI Group Architects Engineers of Alberta, Richard Meier & Partners of New York, Solomon & Bauer (Museum Planners) of Watertown, MA

Diamond & Schmitt Architects of Ontario, HIP Architects of Edmonton, Haley Sharpe Design (Museum Planner) of the United Kingdom

Dialog of Alberta, Lundholm Associates Architects of Ontario (Museum Planner)

4 Final Designs for New Royal Alberta Museum - Edmonton, AB

August 18, 2011 - Four designs submitted for new Royal Alberta Museum http://www.infrastructure.alberta.ca/3688.htm Design options open for public view and comment A new Royal Alberta Museum will be built in downtown Edmonton starting this year. It will be a provincial museum...

urbantoronto.ca

 

[Kaizen]

Dialog.
Diamond & Schmitt a close 2nd

 

[ChazYEG]

Dialog.
Diamond & Schmitt a close 2nd

I'd swap your picks.
Diamond & Schmidt follower by a close second Dialog

 

[kcantor]

Diamond & Schmidtt
Laing O’Rourke
Moriyama & Tashima
Dialogue

This is such an important corner - a gateway to downtown from two directions, a gateway to Chinatown and a gateway to the Quarters - the relationship to 97th street should never have been surrendered to a loading dock and the entire south elevation should never have been impermeable and cut off from one of downtown’s only two east/west arterials. This is assuming they all have the capacity to meet programming needs inside their shells as well or better than what we got. I know and appreciate that architecture can - and should - be subjective and personal but for me we got the poorest option and not the best that was offered.

 

[Guy 1]

Diamond & Schmitt for me.

As @kcantor said, this is such an important intersection for the connection of downtown. The Diamond & Schmitt proposal offers so much more interaction with the building from the exterior than the DIALOG one. I Find the new museum as it is cold and uninviting from the outside.

I like these threads - its fun to look back on these competitions now that the final product has been in place for a few years.

 

[CplKlinger]

Diamond and Schmitt's does look nice, but what's with that netting on the façade?

 

[IanO]

A metal screen for design, shading and style.

 

[Kaizen]

- Or an anti-graffiti structural system (electrified), teamed with mosquito netting. And an architectural element that looks decent considering all its attributes...