UofT Skylight

[rdaner]

I find this too beautiful not to include:

Hidden historic ceiling found in U of T reading room

Renovations uncovered carved wooden trusses, rafters and a dramatic glass skylight in the heritage wing of the Gerstein Science Information Centre. (Diamond and Schmitt)

Story from here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/10/28/gerstein-ceiling-unveiled.html

A renovation of the University of Toronto reading room has revealed architectural details hidden for almost a century.

Diamond and Schmitt Architects discovered carved wooden trusses, rafters and a dramatic glass skylight while renewing the heritage wing of the Gerstein Science Information Centre.

"No one at the university could remember the ceiling ever being exposed," said Gary McCluskie, a principal at the firm.

The ceiling was covered up during a renovation in the early 1900s when metal bracing was installed to support the trusses. McCluskie said he believes the bracing was covered up because it was considered unattractive.

A false ceiling had covered the carvings and a skylight for many years. (Diamond and Schmitt)
In the redesign of the Gerstein Reading Room, architects integrated the bracing into their ceiling design, exposing the woodwork and skylight.

The ceiling was in remarkable condition despite being hidden for decades. The neo-gothic carved woodwork was cleaned and is now visible from the library.

The renovation, funded by the Frank Gerstein Charitable Foundation and the Bertrand Gerstein Family Foundation, is part of a larger transformation of the original library. The Gersteins are a prominent Toronto family that have also donated to York University.

The library was constructed in 1892 after the original library burned down in 1890. It was renamed in 1997 after its benefactor, the Gerstein Charitable Foundation.

A false ceiling had covered the carvings and a skylight for many years. (Diamond and Schmitt)

 

[whatever]

Holy shit, for the amount of time I spent in that room, and for the number of times I walked by the outside of it, I cannot believe that it never occurred to me that the interior didn't match the exterior. Now that I'm thinking about it it seems obvious that there had to be a false ceiling in there.

Amazing that in all this time the skylight never leaked or required maitenance. The seals would have been shot 60-70 years ago

 

[wyliepoon]

Is hiding a magnificent ceiling behind a dull facade some sort of North American phenomenon? I believe the same thing happened at Summerhill LCBO too, and it seems like stories like this keep coming up over and over again.

 

[ssk]

What is considered mundane at any time is destroyed or covered up. What gets covered up is saved from destruction, and later generations get to uncover it and re-appreciate it. I don't see any reason for it to be uniquely North American.

 

[simply Dan]

Incredible! It is indeed amazing that nobody ever bothered to look behind the ceiling for so many years... I wonder how many other marvellous spaces like this continue to hide in our city.

 

[adma]

And in this case, it wasn't like the cover-up was "dull"--they just filled in the interstices with glass and panels. This was well before the age of the dropped acoustic-tile ceiling, you know.

 

[Benc7]

That is beautiful! I'll have to go and see this soon. I was surprised I hadn't heard about this discovery before (the article is from October). Thanks, rDaner, for bringing it to my attention.

 

[Archivist]

I love stories like this, where something so gorgeous is restored. Sometimes, letting things sit under wraps is the best thing - saves them from further damage.

Things happen because buildings aren't artworks. They are living breathing things that exist in time and in within the bounds of an economy. For me, this is what has always made them more intriguing in some ways than, say, a Picasso. No one adds an inch to the outside of a Picasso painting to make it bigger (hopefully, anyways) but buildings are subject to a variety of pressures and evolve from the very day that they are completed. I suppose you could say they are never completed - they just keep moving. It's a fascinating, something horrible, thing.

I find smaller changes to a building, like the Greekification of part of the lower Metro Hall for the purposes of housing a restaurant, to be fascinating in their own ways. This is just one of those.

 

[adma]

I find smaller changes to a building, like the Greekification of part of the lower Metro Hall for the purposes of housing a restaurant, to be fascinating in their own ways. This is just one of those.

I dunno--not speaking specifically of Metro Hall, but "Greekification" to some may be "architectural sodomy" to others

 

[Kenojuak]

It is really gorgeous and nice to work under. Lighting in the room at night is insufficient, and the sunlight can be harsh during the day, but it is just so beautiful.