The document summarizes the successful implementation of a signage and wayfinding system at the newly transformed Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto. A specialized team worked to integrate signage and wayfinding into the architectural design from the beginning to create a seamless visitor experience. Bruce Mau Design was hired to design a minimalist wayfinding system that did not interfere with the clean lines of architect Frank Gehry's design. Through close collaboration between architects, designers, manufacturers and consultants, over 10,000 individual letters and signs were carefully crafted and placed to enhance navigation without drawing attention away from the art. Since opening in 2008, visitor feedback confirms the system helps visitors smoothly navigate the AGO buildings.

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KUDOS
Kudos
… to Waterfront Toronto’s Spadina WaveDeck
designed by West 8 and duToit Allsopp Hillier) and Master Plan
for Lake Ontario Park (designed by world renowned landscape
architecture firm Field Operations.) Each were awarded 2009
Toronto Urban Design Awards. Spadina WaveDeck earned an
Award of Excellence in the Small Open Space category and the
Master Plan for Lake Ontario Park was awarded an Honourable
Mention in the Vision and Masterplan category.
The City of Toronto’s Urban Design Awards recognize and
acknowledge the significant contribution that architects, landscape
architects, urban designers, artists, design students, and city
builders make to the look and livability of Toronto.This year's
competition drew 117 entries in seven categories.
… to The Royal Ontario Museum's Institute
of Contemporary Culture (ICC) which unveiled
newly constructed walls in the Roloff Beny Gallery on the 4th
floor of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Consistent with the
architecture of the Lee-Chin Crystal, the dynamic new partition
walls provide ample vertical hanging space for the display of
two dimensional art and objects in the ICC's upcoming slate of
exhibitions.
The completion of the walls comes just in time for the launch of
the ICC exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008,
opening on September 26, 2009. It features more than 140
portraits of celebrated personalities from Vanity Fair's historic
archive of rare vintage prints and contemporary photographs.
... International architects RMJM who appointed
renowned U.K. architect Will Alsop to lead the newly branded
studio “Will Alsop at RMJM.” Based in London,Alsop will work on
projects worldwide with teams from throughout the company’s
network, which includes offices in New York,Washington D.C.,
Princeton and Philadelphia.
Will’s first U.S. project, the Glenwood Waterfront regeneration
project will transform an inactive power plant in Yonkers into a
vibrant public space. Also in North America,Will designed the
iconic Sharp Centre for Design at the Ontario College for Art
& Design in Toronto, Canada.
It’s no coincidence that both of these remarkable buildings are
museums; indeed, in our times museums have become structures
synonymous with cultural and architectural significance.
More than a façade, architecture perceptually defines the
economic, social and cultural health of modern cities. Beyond
its aesthetic properties, it has the ability to stimulate urban
infrastructure, commercial investment and enterprise, artistic
and cultural renaissance, workforce and residential renewal, and
more importantly, pride of place.Toronto, and Canada as a whole,
should be proud to house not one but two groundbreaking
statements of architecture.
Daniel Libeskind’s ROM addition is an arresting, obtuse post-modern
expression of angularity, in remarkable contrast with Frank
Gehry’s AGO blend of organic simplicity and earthbound
aesthetic uniformity – a "restrained masterpiece," as The Globe
and Mail put it.With diametrically opposite physical vernaculars,
both expressions boldly provoke the sometimes staid cultural
conservatism apparent in Canadian architecture, and provide a
welcome juxtaposition with Toronto’s condominium-laden
skyline.Where the AGO is concerned, revolutionary design
aside, its transformation entailed a massive eight year architectural,
engineering and consulting undertaking, not the least of which
capitalized on signage and wayfinding to shape the visitor experience.
Transformation AGO: Incorporating Signage and
Wayfinding
For projects of this scope, signage and wayfinding are so intertwined
that signage cannot be discussed alone.Without the behavioural
science of navigation known as wayfinding, signage is reduced to
a random placement of physical objects, or worse, a series of
visual pollutants lacking consideration for the dynamics of
environmental aesthetics.
This is an all-too-common outcome if wayfinding, or the
process of signage implementation, is an afterthought to the
architectural project.Wayfinding can actually assist architects in
shaping the language of the building’s architecture; rather than
Wayfinding
The AGO:The Canadian Museum Reborn
By Keith Francis
T
he newest architectural statements to land
on our urban shores – the Royal Ontario
Museum (ROM) extension and the recently
revamped Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO),
both in Toronto, are true signs of progress.
Photo:JasonAldenPhotos:WaterfrontToronto
Photo:RoyalOntarioMuseum,2009

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adapting a signage and wayfinding system to work with an
environment, the environment itself should be made to interface
holistically with all communication elements.
Used properly, wayfinding uses logic and restraint in signage
placement and application, its methodology enabling clear
information identification. In an effective wayfinding system,
intuitive navigation through the structure is supported by text,
graphics, pictograms, colours and shapes.
Fortunately, the specialized Transformation AGO team of
architects, designers, manufacturers and signage and wayfinding
professionals understood the perils of treating signage and
wayfinding as an add-on to the process of architectural design.
Instead, they embraced the idea of signage as a strategic exercise
integral to conceptualizing the overall visitor experience.
Defining the Visitor Experience
When identifying the success factors of implementing a signage
and wayfinding program, the team recognized the critical role
played by the logical imperatives of signage and wayfinding:
direction, numbers, arrows, graphics. Even more importantly,
they highlighted signage and wayfinding’s ability to improve the
visitor experience by providing clarity, tone, reassurance, comfort,
security and a sense of place – an idea welcomed by Linda
Milrod, senior project manager and installation director for
Transformation AGO.
“Our design mantra was “the visitor experience is paramount;”
everyone embraced this philosophy. Our aim was to create an
inclusive, participatory forum with equal emphasis and attention
to all disciplines: design, signage, wayfinding and architecture,”
says Milrod.
As the AGO structure has undergone six previous expansions
since the 1920s, Milrod understood the criticality of a
well-integrated wayfinding program in connecting the AGO
buildings into a unified edifice as far as visitor experience goes,
and in avoiding confusion when navigating their different paths.
As a project, Gehry’s transformation affected every part of the
structure; it was thus paramount to define its mission from the
outset.This enabled the team to understand the context and
characteristics of the building that could aid the implementation
of a functional, intuitive wayfinding system, producing a more
transparent and navigable museum.The system should link the

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different building types involved to provide much-needed
symmetry, and simplify the material palette, making for a warm
and comforting environment.
Of equal importance was the need for the team to recognize
that signage should not interfere with the experience, and
should only be placed where key decisions will be made. As
Milrod explains,“every building has a physical vernacular that
needs to conform to the visitor experience.The frenetic pace
of an airport requires an in-your-face and visually apparent
signage system; conversely, museums retain a subtle, subdued
and restrained sensibility, where the building slowly unveils its
content, with signage playing a supporting role to address the
visitors’ navigational needs.” Milrod was right to point out that
the AGO was fortunate to be working with an architect that
supports this philosophy by virtue of his sensitivity to the
significance of content.
Implementing Signage
The AGO hired Bruce Mau Design (BMD) to implement
architectural, wayfinding and donor recognition signage. BMD
brought extensive wayfinding experience to the project, having
completed work for landmarks such as New York City’s
Museum of Modern Art, whose minimalist design and spirit are
in line with Gehry’s vision for the AGO.
According to Dave Wilkinson, senior designer for BMD,“Our
job was to design a wayfinding system that would not interfere
with the clean lines of the AGO’s current architecture.”
Recognizing that wayfinding signage is an aspect of the larger
composition of its environment, BMD studied the AGO’s
architectural properties at length to ensure signs don’t seem an
afterthought. In designing the wayfinding system,Wilkinson took
visual cues directly from the existing structure. Elements such as
Douglas fir accents and anodized, hand-brushed aluminum for
donor and elevator signs ensure a seamless integration of
objects with environment. BMD ensured signage plays a
supporting role to the main attraction, the art.
Working with key stakeholders, independent consultant Mike
Melnyk took BMD’s plans from concept through to construction.
As in previous collaborations with BMD on wayfinding projects
for the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles,The Avenues
in Kuwait, and Cairo’s Grand Egyptian Museum, Melnyk used
signage placement principles and a keen eye for detail to
transform drawings into three dimensional fabricated signs.
Although it constructed more than 10,000 individual letters for
signage, principal manufacturer Acumen Visual Group saw the
project scope as a matter of quality rather than scale: each and
every letter was treated as a piece of art. Provided by King
Architectural Products, main entrance and lobby signage was
carefully inspected by Melnyk to ensure it reflects the AGO’s
and Gehry’s design principles. In the signage manufacturing
stage, no compromise was too small or too great when it came
to selecting the right balance of materials and using appropriate
finishes and elevations to enhance optimal placement for viewing.
Measuring Wayfinding Success
Since the AGO’s reopening in November 2008, visitor feedback
has been overwhelmingly positive, and although there are few
complaints focused on the wayfinding system, the museum
continues to perfect it. During behavioural observation sessions,
it identified the need to revise visitor maps to aid navigation. As
Milord explains,“we redid the map and wayfinding language so
that they coincide and work seamlessly together.”
The Transformation AGO project’s success is reflected in
Frank Gehry’s own reaction to the finished product during an
unannounced visit shortly after the museum’s reopening. Having
found it difficult to appreciate the work as a whole during
construction, Gehry intended to experience the AGO as a
casual visitor rather than the architect responsible for its
metamorphosis. A smiling Gehry emerged from the building
satisfied with its ability to support its content and provide a
positive visitor experience, Milrod proudly recounts.
Scholars have long maintained that architecture and the elements
supporting it, such as signage and wayfinding, have a profound
effect on the human condition. If so, the AGO transformation’s
impact on its own creator is proof positive that the project is
an accomplishment forToronto, and a point of pride for Canada.
With files from Acumen Visual Group, Bruce Mau Design and the
Art Gallery of Ontario. For more information, visit www.ideasbuilt.ca,
www.brucemaudesign.com and www.ago.net.