The Globe and Mail

The most compelling work of architecture in this country right now is actually a construction site. Fronting the redevelopment of the Royal Ontario Museum in downtown Toronto is a massive steel structure that is raw and mysterious and dirty. Drywall and stucco cladding have neutralized North America. Exposed steel is a major turn-on. How sweet it is to be confronted with a real, heaving body. And how very contrary. Our buildings are most often placed under hygienic wraps, the naughty bits furtively imbedded within concrete or covered under cladding -- an act of sanitation that recalls the catchy refrain handed down by the Puritans, "I was conceived in Sin & Born in iniquity," doled out like gruel in the New England Primer in 1646. Thank you for that. I'll have another serving of steel.