Submitted by admin on 20 March, 2021 - 00:57.
Canada’s “brutal” libraries
Did you know that some of Canada’s libraries are true Brutalist marvels? Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, the University of Toronto, and York University boast the most attention-grabbing, concrete, book-filled gems, but it is the design of the UoT’s Robarts Library that has caused many to raise their eyebrows in disbelief. Named after the 17th premier of Ontario John P. Robarts, the library is unarguably one of the most significant examples of Brutalist architecture in North America. Completed in 1973 at a cost of over 40 million dollars, the giant “fortress” – known as Fort Book – is a home to 4.5 million volumes spread over 14 floors. Its gigantic structure is an embodiment of béton brut – pioneered by such modernist architects as Le Corbusier – which translates to English as raw concrete. The rawness of the library is particularly striking, but so is its shape. Tourists and Torontonians alike often wonder what they are actually looking at – whether Fort Book is a peacock, a turkey, or a massive UFO has been and will remain a dilemma. Interestingly, Umberto Eco spent days at Robarts while writing The Name of the Rose, which gives us a reason to believe it might have been an inspiration for his secret library.
Go to these websites for more information and stunning photographs:
ArchDaily on Robarts Library
Beautifully raw Scott Library at York University
Toronto: a brutalist city
Simon Fraser University: a brutalist acropolis in the great white north
Photo source: Flickr, author Kai Schreiber
