Architecture Rant: The Robarts Revitalization
August 11th, 2011 by Erik J Bracciodieta
The new Robarts portico. But where are the robots?
Robarts is the building we all love to hate. And by ‘we’, I mean non-science students. Other than the occasional light fiction novel, science people can’t find a reasonable excuse to go north of Harbord. This is a bit of a tragedy because there has never been a better time than now to be at Robarts.
The library’s revitalization is a lot more than just ‘vitalizing’. To be accurate, it’s more like applying two supercharged heart paddles to a dead patient and, in less than a minute, he’s alive again and tap dancing his way into our hearts. Robarts is the patient and our hearts just got a little warmer.
Robarts, along with the Medical Sciences Building and OISE, is a prime example of brutalism: an architectural style popular in the 60’s and 70’s that used prefabricated reinforced concrete for the exterior. Basically, Robarts was built a cold, cavernous, unwelcoming place.
But the recent upgrades have saved us. The new entrance on Harbord St. is a godsend for all those who take the Spadina streetcar. The group study rooms on the stack floors are exactly what’s needed the morning before a final exam as you desperately extract information from your friends’ un-procrastinating minds. But the greatest improvement starts with the letter P:
PORTICO! (Use that word in a sentence when you’re with friends and your classiness level will shoot up five points.) Remember the exterior stairs that led up to the second floor entrance? That waste of exterior space has been intelligently re-imagined into indoor space. Enclosed by glass, you finally feel like you’re in the twenty-first century. When I first walked through, I half-expected a robot to approach me and ask if it can be of any assistance. I would then reply, ‘yes robot, obtain a unit of glixnardian hydrator for me; it’s 55 degrees celcion out side! Bleep Blorp!’
Other than childish musings on robots, the portico contains a precious commodity; no, not just the additional computer terminals, but public space. Specifically the breakfast nook-style benches with the bar stools. It’s the perfect place to casually sit down to eat your homemade sandwich or a steaming stir-fry from the takeout trucks on St. George. It’s also a good place to spend that inconvenient free hour between classes chatting (an hour is too long to spend on lunch alone, but too short to hunker down and study in silence).
However, what makes the portico such an awesome place also leads to the only downside to relaxing in there. The nearly uninterrupted glass shield that allows sunlight in can turn the space into an oven on a hot day. If you choose to have an extended studying-talking-eating break there, make sure you remember to slather on some sunscreen.
With that, I implore you to visit Robarts while the floors are still freshly waxed, the chairs are still gum free, and the glass walls still sparkle. After all, our tuition paid for it.
For more pictures of the Robarts revitalization, check out Featured Photographer Jimmy’s Flickr.
