
The Pursuit of Beauty

One of the recurring themes during the past few days of ICSE, especially at the Parnas Symposium, has been the aesthetics of software architecture. Although this aspect of software is often mentioned in conversation, it does not receive as much attention in writing as one might expect. Beautiful buildings are not only pleasing to look at, but they serve their inhabitants better and are more comprehensible: these are also the qualities that cause us to describe a software architecture as beautiful. 
Toronto provides many opportunities to pursue beauty, in architecture, performance, and art. In Issue Zero, I mentioned some of the many theatres that are in the vicinity of the conference hotel, and today we'll visit a few galleries. (I did the research for these articles last week, and I didn't collect material for a tour of the city's architecture because the transportation would be too cumbersome for most delegates.)
The Art Gallery of Ontario currently has a world exclusive showing of treasures from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia, entitled "Rubens and His Age". This is part of a collection of Flemish masterpieces purchased by Catherine the Great in one of the greatest art spending sprees of all time.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is also well worth a visit, and is currently showing masterpieces from a collection of 1800 pieces of Chinese and Near Eastern antiquities, in addition to their extensive permanent collection. The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art and the Bata Shoe Museum are two other well reviewed galleries within walking distance of the ROM.
Two of the best galleries of Canadian art, especially of the Group of Seven, are the McMichael collection and Ken Thompson's private collection. Many of their paintings are landscapes of Algonquin park in northern Ontario. The McMichael is currently running an exhibit on Lawren Stewart Harris, who is my favourite member of the Group of Seven.
The Jane Corkin gallery is showing photographs by Harold Edgerton, the MIT professor who perfected the strobe light. "Edgerton's images, among the most highly celebrated experimental photographs ever made, come as reminders of the intense beauty science has so often given us." [National Post]
— Derek Rayside

Sidebar
Addresses
All of these galleries are easily accessible from the conference hotel, except for the McMichael.
n	Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO): 
	317 Dundas St W; 416-978-6648.
n Royal Ontario Museum (ROM):  
	100 Queens Park; 416-586-5549.
	(Musuem subway station)
n Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art:  
	111 Queens Park; 416-586-8080.
n Bata Shoe Museum:  
	327 Bloor St W; 	416-979-7799.
n	Thompson Gallery:  Hudson's Bay Store, 		9th floor, south-west corner of Queen & 		Yonge, across from the Eaton Centre; 		11am to 5pm. The hotel runs a free 	shuttle 		bus to the Eaton Centre.
n 	McMichael Gallery: 10385 Islington Ave, 		Kleinburg (you'll need a car); 
	888-213-1121; 10am to 4pm.
n  Jane Corkin Gallery:  
	179 John St, Suite 302; 416-979-1980.
