Architectural Opening and Dedication to Showcase Dramatic New Space of Michael Lee-Chin Crystal

New wing designed by Daniel Libeskind named in honor of Michael Lee-Chin

For Immediate Release, Toronto, Ontario, May 1, 2007

At sunset on Saturday, June 2, 2007, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)—Canada’s largest museum of natural history and world cultures—will hold the Architectural Opening and Building Dedication for the Museum’s new Michael Lee-Chin Crystal.  The striking new wing will include six spectacular collection galleries on four floors, two special-exhibition spaces, new retail and dining facilities, and the ROM’s new main entrance (see full list, below).  Designed by Daniel Libeskind, the facility is named in honor of international businessman, philanthropist, and member of the ROM Board of Governors Michael Lee-Chin, whose lead donation of $30 million in April 2003 launched the Museum’s “Renaissance ROM” expansion project (described below).  Following the dedication ceremony, the Lee-Chin Crystal will open to the public for the first time.  

ROM Director and CEO William Thorsell states, “It is difficult to imagine a more eloquent symbol of the ROM’s growth and revitalization than Daniel Libeskind’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal.  With its dynamic form, expansive public areas, and superb gallery spaces, the building is at once inspiring and practical.  It will provide Toronto residents and visitors with a place for contemplation, learning, and fun.  The Royal Ontario Museum is deeply grateful to Michael Lee-Chin for making this superb building possible.”

Daniel Libeskind notes, “The Lee-Chin Crystal—designed in close collaboration with the Museum—is intended to transform the ROM into an inspired atmosphere that will promote the resurgence of the Museum as the dynamic center of Toronto.  The foundation of virtually all of my work is a firm belief in culture as the driving force behind vital, creative cities and, indeed, nations.  It is my hope that the Lee-Chin Crystal, as well as the other components of Renaissance ROM, will become a focal point for the city and people of Toronto, a place of wonder and joy.”

The June 2 festivities will be celebrated on ROM’s Bloor Street Plaza, a newly designed, dynamic public space in front of the Lee-Chin Crystal.  The celebration will include a seventy-five-minute live concert beginning at sundown and culminating in the illumination of the building’s striking façade.  Following this, the doors of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal will open, with free admission provided by timed tickets until 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 3, courtesy of CIBC, the Inaugural Season Sponsor of the Lee-Chin Crystal.

From this time through June 10, enthusiasts of contemporary design will have the opportunity to experience Mr. Libeskind’s architecture in its purest form, prior to installation of the six collection galleries.  On June 11, the gallery floors will temporarily close for installation, but the special exhibitions and public amenities will remain open.

The June 2 Architectural Opening and Building Dedication is the first of many festive events occurring during the ROM’s 2007–08 season.  Over subsequent months, the completion of each of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal’s six permanent galleries—the Jim and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs; the Shreyas and Mina Ajmera Gallery of the Age of Mammals; the Gallery of Africa, Americas and Asia-Pacific; the Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery; the Gallery of the Middle East; and the Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles and Costume—will be marked by a special celebration.  These will conclude in spring 2008, with public festivities held in honor of the completely installed Lee-Chin Crystal.

The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal

Located at one of Canada’s most important urban intersections, the ROM’s new Michael Lee-Chin Crystal will be the distinctive new symbol of Toronto for the twenty-first century, forming the hub of a renewed cultural district downtown.  This vibrant, light-filled structure, sited at the heart of its diverse community, transforms the streetscape with a stunningly bold urban gesture, establishing the ROM as the country’s premier cultural and social destination for residents and tourists alike.

The Lee-Chin Crystal comprises five interlocking, self-supporting prismatic structures that interface with the historic buildings that embrace it.  With hardly a right angle anywhere, its sloping walls create unique interior spaces with soaring volumes and such ingenious details as the “Spirit House,” a void at the heart of the building that is traversed by criss-crossing bridges.  Slashing windows fill the rooms with natural light and create uniquely framed views of the cityscapes outside.  The ROM’s historic façades are exposed in the interior in large and small sections, while the sleek, contemporary walls form dramatic backdrops for the historic artifacts.  Museum circulation is vastly improved through the inclusion of the “Stair of Wonders,” a cabinet of curiosities in itself, as well as elevators and links into ROM’s historic wings.

When complete, seven of the eight galleries in the 175,000-square-foot, aluminum-and-glass-covered Michael Lee-Chin Crystal will overlook Bloor Street West.  The building will contain a graceful new main entrance and lobby, the soaring four-story interior Hyacinth Gloria Chen Crystal Court, the sizeable new ROM Museum Store, the attractive fine dining destination Crystal Five Restaurant Lounge (opening mid-June 2007), and two temporary-exhibition halls—the gallery of the Institute for Contemporary Culture and Canada’s largest space for international exhibitions, Garfield Weston Exhibition Hall—among other features.  

The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal is the centerpiece of the Museum’s $250-million expansion and renovation project known as “Renaissance ROM.”  In addition to the spectacular Lee-Chin Crystal, this important project includes the renovation of some seventy-five percent of the ROM’s historic 1914 and 1933 buildings, making this Canada’s largest heritage restoration project today.  By 2009, Renaissance ROM will have created an additional ten galleries inside the historic buildings.  The entire development has been designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind, in a joint partnership with Bregman + Hamann Architects, of Toronto.

Opening on June 2    
Level 1

• New Bloor Street Entrance, Lobby, and Coat Check
• Hyacinth Gloria Chen Crystal Court
• Stair of Wonders
• Spirit House
• ROM Museum Store, including ROM Reproductions

Level B1    

• Food Studio, the ROM’s fresh market eatery

Level B2   

• Garfield Weston Exhibition Hall: Drama and Desire: Japanese Paintings from the Floating World, 1690–1850
  June 2 to August 12, 2007

Level 2

• Uninstalled gallery space:
  Jim and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs
  Shreyas and Mina Ajmera Gallery of the Age of Mammals

Level 3     

• Uninstalled gallery space:
  Gallery of Africa, Americas and Asia-Pacific
  Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery
  Gallery of the Middle East

Level 4

• Uninstalled gallery space:
  Institute for Contemporary Culture
  Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles & Costume

Open from June 2 through 10, these gallery spaces close on June 11 for installation, re-opening through2007–08.

Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum is an agency of the Government of Ontario.  Opened in 1914, the ROM holds six million objects in its collections, showcasing art, archaeology, and natural science from around the world, with a focus on Canada.  For 24-hour information in English and French, the public may call 416.586.8000 or visit www.rom.on.ca.

Renaissance ROM (www.rom.on.ca/renaissance) is an ambitious expansion and heritage renovation of the Museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind.  The project will reaffirm the ROM as one of North America’s great museums and a leading cultural destination for visitors from across the globe.  

International businessman and philanthropist Michael Lee-Chin is a member of the ROM Board of Governors and Renaissance ROM Campaign Cabinet.  He is Executive Chairman of AIC Limited, the National Commercial Bank, Jamaica, Limited, and Senvia Money Services; he also serves as Chairman, The Berkshire Group of Companies.

General Information

Admission to the Architectural Opening and Building Dedication of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal is free, with timed tickets, from the conclusion of the June 2 evening concert until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday June 3.  Following this, regular ROM admission will apply: $20 per adult; $17 for students with a valid ID and senior citizens; $14 for children aged five to fourteen; and free for children four and under and Museum members.  Ticket information for the Architectural Opening and updated Museum hours will be announced later in the spring, along with additional information about opening-week events and subsequent celebrations.  The June 2 Architectural Opening and Building Dedication of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal forms part of the opening weekend of Luminato, Toronto’s new Festival of Arts & Creativity, with more than ninety events city-wide, from June 1 through 10, 2007.  


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Jeanne Collins & Associates, LLC, 646.486.7050; info@jcollinsassociates.com