HG Patinating the bronze bookstacks in the studio
The form at the top of this bookstack is the same shape as the University Library Portico
The books of the 4 central Bookstacks Move ! They can be left neat and tidy or left in a chaotic state depending on the mood of the viewer
HG and the Director of the Library at the unveiling
With lighting
The Library forecourt before the commission
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
The brief was to delineate an arrival court at the front of the Library and provide a barrier to vehicles. Harry Gray made a series of bronze book stacks to work both as artworks and bollards that create a space for pedestrians at the front of the library. The bronze books of the 4 central stacks are all mobile about a steel core and can be easily arranged in many ways by the viewer, they add a sense of fun to what some consider an austere façade.
The end bronzes are static and more formal except for the top book which has been left with its rebellious spine in the air, and to acknowledge the powerful architectural setting its hard covers are set at the same angle as the Libraries portico roof.