November 14th, 2007
POLL: What is your opinion of these three concrete buildings?
By Matthew Blackett // 12 Comments
I've been reading the book Concrete Toronto, published by Coach House Books and ERA Architects. It's a wonderful collection of short essays and observations about a large number of modernist and brutalist buildings constructed throughout Toronto and the inner suburbs from the 1950s to the late 1970s. No matter what your opinion is of the style or architecture, this book gives us a better understanding of how of contemporary Toronto was built.
With that in mind, Spacing wants to know what you think of three iconic concrete Toronto buildings: the CN Tower, New City Hall, and Robarts Library.
Robarts Library by Konrad Glogowski
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Ahh.. concrete, the misunderstood and far too often maligned material. I'm a huge Robarts Library fan, seeing it on the skyline in and around U of T campus, and combing through the stacks are some of my favourite Toronto moments... and that staircase between the 12th and 13th floors!
I know the (seeming) aggressiveness of the form tends to confuse and scare people but I have a hint of advice, relax.. and enjoy that megalith!
Dynamite Robarts!
Robarts is just one of the most non-functional buildings I've ever been in. It's a nightmare to navigate. I pity the people who've been crammed into the tiny offices on the upper levels; they're trapped behind enormous parapets I've never been able to figure out.
I agree, Robarts is dynamite! What a fantastic, dynamic piece of urban fabric.
Wait, that's not what you meant, is it?
I *heart* Robarts Library. Everything I love about Libraries -- potential to get deeper and deeper into it, maybe even lost. And separated from the outside world, yet some magnificent views hidden in nooks and crannies on the upper floors. Above all, a feeling the book are safe.
Even after I realized that Robarts is supposed to be a massive concrete sculpture of a peacock/turkey that happens to have a library inside, I still don't understand why it would be a good look for a building.
The internal arrangement is odd too. For some reason, the actual books are on the top floors and the bottom floors are filled with offices. It's the opposite of the obvious.
I usually say that the best view of Toronto is from the top of Robarts, mainly because you can't see Robarts. Jocking aside, it really does have a magnificient view of the campus, the core and uptown.
I agree that Robarts is better viewed from inside than from outside. The thing I like best about Robarts is that everyone has an opinion about it! No matter what you feel, it makes you feel something and want to talk about it with others.
Robarts is awesome because it's so weird and ugly. At least it's not one of the many bland boring rectangular boxes. Love it or hate it, but you gotta admit that it has character.
One Toronto concrete building that should be blown up is the Ross building on York University campus. A disgusting gray box with really poor connections between the North and the South wings... except for the 5th and 6th floor walkway with great views (great for that part of the city anyway). Actually, maybe the building deserves to be kept just for that walkway.
during 1st year i had classes on the 14th (top) floor of robarts. after waiting for the overcrowded single elevator that services the 14th floor, it took me (and all my other classmates) half an hour of walking in circles to find our classroom on the first day. it was super frustrating, but comical to pass the same 10 people a half dozen times in the hallways. i found myself still getting lost weeks and months later.
also, the shape of the building causes a brutal wind tunnel effect down huron street. it's an abomination!
Leo - A former professor explained how Robarts was meant to be used in a different way from regular libraries. People were supposed to go to the front desk and request a book while workers would go to the stacks and grab them. Maybe this explains the strange arrangement.
One of the most interesting of these concrete buildings was the John Parkin version of the Art Gallery of Ontario. In fact two renos ago, the Barton Myers/KPMB "warehouse" managed to make the Parkin building seem elegant -- and of course with its setback and front gardens, fit right into the neighbourhood along Dundas and Beverley.
Comment by ceta
November 14, 2007 | 9:48 am