Art Gallery of Ontario reopens with Gehry's stamp

This is good. The other Gehry news today was the "Center for Tolerance" that he is building in Jerusalem over an ancient Muslim graveyard. ~ t

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Architect Frank Gehry hopes people can find their way around the Art Gallery of Ontario when it opens Friday to the public after a $276-million renovation.

The celebrity Canadian architect, who redesigned the Toronto gallery, was juggling numerous demands in the design process, including the need to stay on budget and showcase a collection of 2,000 works from principal donor Ken Thomson, and the requirements of the AGO's board and curators.

But he has definite ideas himself about what a public building should do, as he explained during a press conference Thursday.

"A public building is something that invites people in, is user friendly, functions as intended and is responsive to the community around it," Gehry said, addressing a crowd of more than 300 who came to see the result of his design process.

Part of the Thompson Collection in the Canadian Gallery at the AGO. (AGO)