ROM Contemporary Culture’s exhibition space, the Roloff Beny Gallery, is located at the top of the dramatically angled Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Since the completion of the Crystal in 2007, ROM Contemporary Culture had constructed new display configurations for each changing exhibit. When invited to design the walls for the 2009 Vanity Fair photography exhibit, HPA saw an opportunity to propose a more sustainable scenario. The design solution — nine movable walls at varying heights and angles — reduces the cost of rebuilding the interior gallery space time and time again.
Standard-dimension display walls would appear undersized in the soaring six-thousand-square-foot Crystal. Inspired by icebergs, the new walls define a space within the space, drawing the eye up and around the monumental interior, allowing visitors to simultaneously experience the art on display and the sculptural phenomenon of the larger gallery.
