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2008 (finished in 2010), the Map & Data
Library on the 5th floor in 2009, the Media Commons on the 3rd floor in 2010, and the second floor porticos in 2011. The renovations were intended to create a welcoming environment that would both provide informal study space and function to let people know about the services and resources available throughout the building. Signage throughout the building was redesigned and refreshed to improve navigation and usability of the library and its resources, and new touch screens are already improving communication with students, providing information such as the number of available workstations on each floor at any given time. Robarts outdoor signage can be scanned with the smartphone app Layar for augmented reality links.
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tracks used by the conveyor system are still visible above the shelves. The library is open only to current students, faculty, and staff, external researchers, associate members, and alumni with paid privileges, as well as members of the
University of Toronto School community. It is closed to members of the public.
454:. The entire building is visible numerous times, having been digitally edited and transplanted from its downtown Toronto location to Los Angeles. In the film, it has been surrounded by a prison wall and hundreds of thousands of zombies. While the exterior retains its triangular shape, the interior is rectangular.
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windows are situated onto the bays protruding from the façade, and are reminiscent of overhanging towers in medieval castle architecture. The bay windows seem to elevate upwards, opening up the two lowermost levels into voids enclosed with steel-framed glazing, making these elements seem lighter than
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In addition to an extensive collection of texts, the library provides limited after-hours study space to students during the academic year with the exception of weekends. The book stacks are off-limits after hours. In August 2010, the
Adaptive Technology Resource Centre moved from the first floor of
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The next phase of the renewal was the addition of a five-storey pavilion which would become a new face of
Robarts, opening up the west side of the building to the street, bringing a flood of natural light to the lower floors and making the overall environment more inviting, accessible and productive
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In 2008, the university announced that
Robarts Library would be receiving a significant upgrade, the first phase of which was completed in the spring of 2011. During these years a major transformation gradually took place at Robarts, beginning with the renovation of the apexes on each stack floor in
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students were also granted access. The library's initial design was for a mechanical book conveyor belt system to allow for faster collection by library staff, who would then send books downstairs for pickup. After
Robarts was opened to all students, the conveyor system was discarded, although the
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they really are. To stretch further one's imagination, it is as if these elements are elevators that transport the "scholar anxious to escape the noise and turmoil of the vulgar press … a dream palace enshrining in its holy mysteries the power of the word."
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magazine outlines the library's significance to serving a campus community the size of a town, as well as by being a central storage for humankind's recorded thoughts and inspiration. The library was initially intended for use by
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Robarts
Library occupies a 3-acre (12,000 m) site on a field of open space and mature tree cover. The building rests on an equilateral triangle footprint with each side measuring 330 feet (100 m), the same length as a
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The design of the
Robarts Library complex was headed by Mathers & Haldenby Architects with consultation from Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde, the New York architectural firm whose earlier works included the libraries at
215:. Its towering main structure rests on an equilateral triangular footprint and features extensive use of triangular geometric patterns throughout. It forms the main component of a three-tower complex that also includes the
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from goal post to goal post. The building is oriented such that one side of the equilateral triangle faces west while the other two sides face northeast and southeast. From the southeast corner, the building appears as a
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in
September 2022, adding 1,200 new work and study spaces to Robarts, and bringing the library's total number of study spaces to over 6,000. The renovations were designed by Diamond and Schmitt Architects Incorporated.
336:. A hexagonal central circulation atrium is enclosed at the core of the building and through the middle of the mezzanine level. The gross area of the building is over 1,036,000 square feet (96,200 m).
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Each side of the equilateral triangle is 330 feet (100 m) long - the length of a
Canadian football field from goal post to goal post - and it can provide space for 4,000 persons at any one time.
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One challenge for Diamond Schmitt Architects was to complement the architecture of the peacock-shaped Robarts, a heritage building of brutalist architecture so iconic it inspired a video game.
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celebrations, the initial plan was expanded to add three more storeys to the original design. Construction of the library began in 1968 and completed in 1973, at a cost of over $ 40 million.
445:. Eco spent much of the time writing the novel at the University of Toronto, and the stairwell of the secret library bears a particularly strong resemblance to that in Robarts Library.
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The elevation is mostly concrete, albeit differing in textures and directionality: smooth concrete lines the façade in a horizontal manner, the rough concrete lining vertically. The
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Gretton, Robert. "John P. Robarts Research Library, University of Toronto." Canadian Architect. v.19, n.8. Don Mills, Ont.: Hugh C. Maclean Publications, Ltd. 1974: 28-33
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Acland, James. "Protest 2: a brain factory." Canadian Architect. v.19, n.8. Don Mill, Ont.: Hugh C. Maclean Publications, Ltd. 1974: 36-39
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Robarts Library as viewed from its northwestern corner. The connection to the Claude Bissell Building is visible at left
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only, but following a student protest that included an illegal occupation of the building,
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Concrete Toronto: A Guidebook to Concrete Architecture from the Fifties to the Seventies
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building at its southeastern side, and to the Claude T. Bissell Building, housing the
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and the largest individual library in the university. Opened in 1973 and named for
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Robarts Library may have served as a model for the secret library in
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703:"About the East Asian Library | Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library"
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McClelland, Michael; Stewart, Graeme; E.R.A. Architects (2007).
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structure features raised podia and a suspended fourth floor. A
223:. The library's imposing appearance has earned it the nicknames
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475:. University of Toronto News. news.utoronto.ca. Archived from
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Comprising fourteen storeys, plus two underground floors, the
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Robarts was used for exterior shots of the prison setting in
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A mid-level mezzanine connects the library building with the
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801:"Explosions for 'Resident Evil' shoot rock south Riverdale"
656:. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 537, 538.
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Forty Years of "Fort Book": The Story of Robarts Library
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399:: 慕氏藏書) which is a set of rare books from China in the
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Mathers & Haldenby, Warner Burns Toan & Lunde,
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The southeast side of Robarts Library, seen behind the
727:"Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library | 利銘澤典宬"
623:"U of T celebrates official opening of Robarts Common"
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Canada headquarters are located on the seventh floor.
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and the Claude T. Bissell Building, which houses the
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The University of Toronto: A History, Second Edition
332:floor plates are adorned with triangular-patterned
625:(Press release). University of Toronto. 2022-09-13
513:"Construction begins on Robarts Library expansion"
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473:"Robarts expansion to create more student spaces"
320:level physically connects Robarts Library to the
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574:Planning Academic and Research Library Buildings
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572:Leighton, Philip D.; Weber, David C. (2000).
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551:. Coach House Books. pp. 34, 164, 173.
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357:for students. The new pavilion opened as
328:, at its northeastern side. The concrete
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599:"Robarts Expansion to Begin This Spring"
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471:Leung, Maria Saros (February 26, 2008).
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256:universities and who specialized in
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799:Austin, Daniel (December 8, 2009).
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1018:Architecture, Landscape and Design
576:. ALA Editions. pp. 20, 138.
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776:"Archivists embrace digital page"
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1457:Brutalist architecture in Canada
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597:Aschaiek, Sharon (Winter 2016).
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774:Calamai, Peter (2007-05-16).
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652:Friedland, Martin L. (2013).
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451:Resident Evil: Afterlife
366:Features and collections
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378:A 1974 article in the
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83:130 St. George Street
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1332:Women's ice hockey
1305:Hart House Theatre
1223:1 Spadina Crescent
1208:President's Estate
1203:Philosopher's Walk
1163:Chestnut Residence
1153:Back Campus Fields
684:. 26 November 2014
495:2008-02-25 at the
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380:Canadian Architect
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206:Premier of Ontario
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479:on June 20, 2010.
385:graduate students
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159:Other information
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1023:Medieval Studies
1006:Arts and Science
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