The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has 45,000 square meters (480,000 square feet) of physical space, making it the eighth largest art museum in North America. Its collection includes more than eighty thousand works spanning from the first century to the present day. As a multiuse facility and complex programming venue, AGO caters to a very broad audience through a mandate of maintaining the permanent collection for the people of Ontario and as an educational institution.

Layered lighting applications increase current museum light levels while revealing important architectural features. Throughout public spaces, there is recessed star-patterned down and accent lighting, with linear indirect washlighting at prominent architectural elements. In the galleries, powerbar track lighting, which is completely removable, allows for ultimate flexibility for rotating exhibits. Uplights graze the facade’s curving structural elements, and exterior flood lighting highlights facade graphics.

L'Observatoire International's scope included the exterior and all interior spaces of the Gehry extension, including all galleries, the baroque stair, and the Gehry-designed shop.


Size

480,000 ft2 / 44,592 m2


Status

Completed

Date Completed

2008


Project Leader

Alex Miller


Team

Socorro Sperati


Photo Credit

Thomas Mayer