Courtesy of Brandon Withrow
On the corner of Yonge Street and Asquith Avenue in Toronto is a rusty-colored brick ziggurat. Each window-covered floor is terraced, receding further backwards as it moves upwards. It’s also a pattern that repeats from the back of the building. This is the Toronto Reference Library (TRL) and it is the latest selection for our monthly series, The World’s Most Beautiful Libraries.
I was in the city to visit the TRL, a building I’d only seen in photos, but always thought was stunning. While I found that perception to be justified, I also encountered something else on the inside: a democratization of space. Behind the library, as I later learned, is the philosophy of its architect, Raymond Moriyama—whose perspective on design was forged when he was a child living in one of Canada’s Japanese internment camps.
The Toronto Reference Library was commissioned in 1971 to replace the original and limited Metropolitan Toronto Library. Moriyama’s original plans in 1973 were considered too expensive ($30 million CAD) and the footprint of a new building too big. The shape was also square and all glass, which many didn’t like. A new design, as it appears today, was approved in 1974 and used the terraced feature to reduce its presence while still bringing in the light.