Of all the wonderful art, well-designed products, and awe-inspiring architecture to write about on Yale campus, I don’t know why the first thing I thought of was a phony little bookshelf in the Haas Art and Architecture Library.

The small collection of 31 colored-resin books stands unobtrusively in a glass case, looking tattered and shoddy. But for some reason the piece is remarkably beautiful, glowing with a turn-of-the-century warmth. Maybe it’s the everyday wear along all the corners, or maybe the blush of the backlight shining through the books, but they look familiar and comforting. In the brutalist monolith that is the architecture school, Stella Waitzkin’s sculpture of the Truman Library is like a warm living room hearth.