Toronto Public Library - Toronto Reference Library

The Toronto Reference Library is distinguished by its exterior of warm, orange-red brick, arranged in a stepped, pyramid-like shape that rises toward the skyline. Opened on November second, nineteen seventy-seven, the building was designed by architect Raymond Moriyama to replace a smaller, older central library on College Street. Moriyama originally proposed a glass-heavy design, but civic concerns regarding the energy crisis of the nineteen seventies led to the current brick-clad structure.