Village Squire, 1976-04, Page 33lltrt
Another step toward
a regional art gallery for London
The search is over! After long and careful
consideration architects have been chosen to
design the ne�v London Regional Art Gallery.
Raymond Moriyama, one of Canada's
leading architects, was officially named by
the Art Gallery Building Committee as
Architect and Planner in charge of the design
and construction of the new Gallery.
The announcement was made at a press
conference held at the Holiday Inn, in
Mid -March.
The Moriyama firm was chosen from a
group of professional architects from right
across Canada.
Chosen to associate with Moriyama in this
significant regional Art Centre, is the London
firm of Tillmann and Lamb. Chairman of the
Building Committee, E.D. Patten, said "We
went to a lot of trouble choosing just the right
architect. The response to our advertisement
was tremendous. Our job was to select from
this very knowledgeable group of profession-
als, the one person we felt could best fulfill
our objectives, the overriding objective being
to produce the best possible art gallery for the
people of London and region. And that wasn't
easy - many top Canadian architects were
under consideration. After extensive inter-
views, we decided Raymond Moriyama was
best suited to our needs." Moriyama and his
team of architects and planners are perhaps
best known for their design of the Ontario
Science Centre in Toronto. The futuristic and
people -oriented. Scarborough Municipal Cent-
re and the Japanese Canadian Cultural
Centre are other highly successful projects.
Moriyama was born in Canada. He graduated
from the University of Toronto with a
Bachelor of Architecture. He subsequently
obtained his Master of Architecture in Civil
and Town Planning from McGill. In 1958, he
established his own practice. Since then, the
Raymond Moriyama firm has received
numerous architectural prizes and awards,
including the "Canadian Architect" Aware of
Excellence and-- the Massey Medal for
Architecture. His research and feasibility
studies include St. Lawrence Centre for the
Arts, New York State Museum, Metropolitan
Zoological Park and the Metropolitan Toronto
Central Library.
• One of the most important factors to be
considered in the gallery design is that it
must relate to London, its people and their
needs. Says Patten, "This gallery will not be
designed in isolation and then just planted in
London. It will directly relate to its
surroundings, to the people who live here and
to the programmes and activities best suited
to the communities we serve. In short, it will
belong to the people."
To achieve thi, there will be the' joint,
association between Moriyama and the
London architectural firm, Tillmann and
Lamb. Both Peter Tillmann and Wilf Lamb
are "very excited about the prospects of
working along with Raymond Moriyama. The
regional art gallery presents a very unique
situation here in London. The potential is
there for a very exciting design." Tillmann
and Lamb design include University Hospital,
the new Government of Canada Building and
the IBM Building, all situated in London.
The Regional Gallery has an important
national significance. It will be the only
gallery of consequence to be buil! in Canada
within the next 36 months. And Moriyama is
enthusiastic. /
"I really want to respond to -the desires of
the people. The gallery is for them I am going
to strive for excellence, to produce an alt
gallery that is not only unique to London, but
can also take its place in a world context.
"The site itself is very beautiful - with
gently sloping land and a view of the river, it
offers a very unique location. It is, in effect,
an introduction to London. And that
introduction should be gentle and well-
mannered.
"I am very much aware of the historical
significance of -this site. The gallery cannot
intrude, but must physically and aesthetically
complement both nature and fhe surrounding
buildings. At the same time, we must never
forget that a building is for the people. I see it
as a backdrop for worthwhile human activity,
as a tool to express their ideals. The art
gallery should encourage people to enter it -
to explore and discover. It is their gallery
For this reason, the final design will be a
blending of ideas that come from the people
to London. This blend. will then be suitably
interpreted and incorporated by Moriyama
into a building that is sensitive to its
surroundings.
Moriyama agrees with the Building
Committee on the importance of working with
a local architectural firm.
"I'm happy to be associated with Mr
Tillmann and Mr. Lamb and am looking
forward to working with them as an
integrated team. In regards to our specific job
functions, we haven't as yet defined exact
boundaries. Of course, I shall also be relying
on local expertise in many areas.
The total cost of the new gallery is to be
approximately $5,500,000 which is to be
raised in the following manner: City of
London, site, S1,000,000; Private sector
funds, 1,750,000; Wintario and provincial
grant, 1,500,000; Federal government sup-
port, 1,250,000; Total, 55,500,000.
Announcement has already been made
covering the Wintario funds and application
has been made to the Federal Government.
The private sector fund campaign is being
received very well and it is hoped by J . Allyn
Taylor, the Chairman, that the campaign
objective will be met and the campaign closed
by the end of March.
Construction of the new Gallery will
commence early in 1977 and should be
completed by late 1978.
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ILLAGE SQUIRE. APRIL 19 -to 31