[PHOTO] In the shadow of Robarts

[rfmcdonald]

In the shadow of Robarts
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

The University of Toronto's Robarts Library, the "main humanities and social science library of the University of Toronto" and "the largest book repository in Canada, with 9.6 million items," is famously ugly.

The library's main building is a large brutalist/futurist concrete structure which to some people looks like a giant peacock when viewed from the south (see top picture) with the small tower in front representing the peacock's neck and beak, while the library stacks in the background are thought to look like its extended tail. It has also been speculated that the unusual shape of the building might be a reference to the dragon slain by Saint George, given the library's location on St. George Street.

There's still plenty of things existing at a more human scale around Robarts, like these two people perched and talking on a sculpture on the library's western side, just north of Harbord. Life trimphs.