Tag Archives: Berlin

[caption id="attachment_11870" align="alignright" width="320"]iStockphoto iStockphoto[/caption]

Have you ever entered a room and come across an object so unexpected that it has an explosive effect on the whole decor? Yet, the object is supposed to play a decorative role. At least that’s what you deduct from its location and orientation. The owner wants you to see it and you do indeed see it. And you wonder: “What is that?”

Brazilian businessman Eike Batista, previously a billionaire, placed a Lamborghini Aventador. In the living room of his mansion in Rio de Janeiro. If you are not passionate about cars, the name will not mean anything to you. However, you should know that it is among the most prestigious cars in the world.

Mr. Batista’s model, a white 2012 sports car, was worth $1.3 million when he bought it. He had to sell it last year following a serious reversal of fortune.[……]

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The closest one to us is the John P. Robarts Research Library, on the campus of the University of Toronto. It has been given a fitting nickname: the Fort Book.

[caption id="attachment_11882" align="alignright" width="580"]iStockphoto Toronto University John P. Robarts Research Library. Photo: iStockphoto[/caption]

The massive tower that rises in front of the main façade looks a lot like a pillar of defence. The use of concrete as the primary material enhances the effect of mass. The building has been used as a stand-in in movies for a prison, a zombie-infested space and a crossing point for extraterrestrials.

A caveat however: You will notice the numerous vertical lines that draw the eyes upward. Since the windows are also vertical, a Wikipedia article refers to the building as if it “transported the scholars anxious to escape the noise and turmoil of the vulgar press into a dream palace enshrining its holy mysteries.”

Continuing with the strange and mysterious, have you read Umberto Eco’s In the Name of the Rose? He wrote a good part of this classic detective story in this library. According to Wikipedia, he used the library as inspiration to describe the secret library in his novel.[……]

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