#imagearts

The renovation and expansion of the Image Arts building has given Ryerson University a new landmark; tearing down its old, windowless brick façade and replacing it with a glass envelope that provides naturally lit spaces for students and faculty members within. This façade is further animated through a series of multicolored LED panels that light up Gould Street at night and create a beacon for the campus within the city. The building now houses a new coffee shop on ground level and also features a gallery space that is open to the public. Sitting back from the street, the new Image Arts Building catches the eye of the public passing by, and also creates a highly engaging environment on a pedestrian level. However, on entering the building, one’s experience is drastically changed.

The new addition to the Image Arts building can be seen as a ‘wrap-around’; a new façade system that was installed around the existing building, slightly enlarging the spaces within and creating a hallway that circulates its perimeter. Walking along these corridors, one has an uninterrupted view of the streets below. However, these hallways are nothing more than just hallways – made too narrow for student activity or even quiet study. The architects could have taken the idea of placing the circulation on the perimeter a bit further by creating benches, social hubs or even singular study spaces along these hallways, such as the ones seen in Kerr Hall. Coupled with natural daylight and a great view, these circulation paths would have definitely been more effective if they had been made with the intention of enhancing interaction within the building rather than just denoting movement.

Another notable difference in the new Image Arts Building is the use of colour on the interior walls. A lime green paint is used to bring a sense of vibrancy to the walls, doors and stairwells inside. However, little has been done to change the appearance of the older spaces, classrooms and studios. The interior of the building – apart from the walkway around the perimeter – can be described as almost sterile; with large, windowless, empty spaces, poorly arranged furniture and a paint job that only seems to remind one of a hospital or clinic – minus the patients. It almost seems as though the new façade is just that – a mere façade, made to change the visual appearance of the building from the outside but not the experience of the building on the inside. If the intention of the façade was to bring light into this once windowless building then it has certainly been in vain. The second floor may house nicer offices for faculty members owing to this new curtain wall envelope but the student experience is no different than what it used to be before the renovation. It seems as though this ‘renovation’ project was undertaken in order to create an image for the University, rather than for the benefit of its students; a waste of funds for a superficial cause.