Inside Looking Out

I was so enthralled by Joshua Prince-Ramus’s explanation (and delivery) of the design process of the Seattle Public Library that I didn’t even have time to go inside for a tour yesterday.  But today is a new day and I have a new appreciation and understanding of modern library design.  My journey on this blog is to learn, think and grow each day, so mission accomplished.
In we go... the Seattle Public Library opened the doors on its eleven story masterpiece in May, 2004.  During the first year they hosted 8,000 visitors a day, I can’t even imagine 8,000 in my town let alone in the library, but it is a considerable space...doubling their numbers from the previous year.  There are several amateur tours of the library on youtube which give you the feeling of the atrium area that defines many of the floors.  It is particularly powerful upon entering the ‘Living Room’ on the 3rd level and gazing up fifty feet.  This space was designed with the knowledge that it was one of the few free public spaces available in the city and there is plenty of room for people to hang out, meet, eat, or just get warm.  
From the living room you can go down to the first level and into the children’s room - this space has its own entrance, computers, check-out and restrooms - obviously librarians and parents provide valuable insight to this design.  I can just picture my wild child loose in the living room and headed for the escalator - imagine how those little shrieks of joy would echo!  The children’s room offers story time in several languages and there is an extensive language lab and auditorium (it can seat up to 450 people).
Going back upstairs, the sixth through ninth floors of the library are an amazing continuous spiral of non-fiction books arranged in Dewey Decimal order, the numbers are painted right on the floor as you walk past each row of shelves (Melville would be proud).  The design allows the collection to grow without leading patrons on a wild goose chase between different areas of the library.  Ramus calls it a “parking garage for books”, a great way to visualize the space.  
My favorite space in most libraries is the reading room and Seattle’s is outstanding.  The Betty Jane Narver Reading Room is 12,000 square feet of skylit space on the 10th floor (with views of Elliott Bay) and has space for 400 readers!  Betty Jane Narver was a long time advocate of the Seattle  library and helped form the library foundation board in 1980.  Her death in 2001 prevented her from seeing this finished masterpiece but I can think of no greater memorial than this spectacular spot.
There is also a lovely gift shop, Friendshop, operated by ‘Friends of the Library’ and a coffee cart run by the Seattle based company Chocolati.  These are both small and don’t steal the focus from the important thing:  the books.
Phew - we are so lucky to have the Seattle Public Library to demonstrate what a library can be for a community, not only a place to read, learn and gather but also a monument to announce to the world who we are and we stand for...when I see this library I see Seattle as an authentic place, dedicated to supporting their community and committed to the advancement of the next generation.

Stunning in Seattle

Today is one of the most treasured of all days for teachers and students:  a snow day!  Actually,  its a ‘cold day’, with wind-chills at -19 degrees...brrrrr.  A perfect day to stay inside, sip hot coffee and visit the library.  I headed to Seattle (it is a toasty 46 degrees).
The story of the Seattle Public Library is one of growth, progress and the love of books.  This is a city that has its priorities straight and when it came time to come up with the cash to build their ‘temple’ they did it.  In 1998 the voters approved a $197 million bond issue (there was a 69% approval rating) - the largest ever for a library.  In addition to the bond (called ‘Libraries For All’) the library foundation raised $82 million from 22,000 donors, including $22.5 million from Paul Allen and $20 million from Bill & Melinda Gates.    
The architects, OMA in partnership with LMN Architects in Seattle, created a modern library masterpiece - winning the Pritzker Prize, Time Magazine’s building of the year (2004) and the hearts and minds of the world.  Joshua Prince-Ramus served as the partner in charge of the project and when I headed to his video at ted.com I was completely captivated by his intelligence, enthusiasm and thoughtfulness (you thought I was going to say his stunning good looks, but that was just a bonus).  I immediately decided to spend my ‘cold day’ morning with him...isn’t the Internet wonderful?
Ramus talks about the creative journey his firm and the library team embarked on during the creation of the library.  The journey resulted in two main ideas:  books and socializing.  At the heart of project is the word  BOOKS, which, he reminds us, are technology, and are now learning to share their dominance with other kinds of information technology.  The second idea, and he asserts that it is equally important, although at first the librarians were unconvinced, was to foster socialization.   
As background Ramus explains that the idea of ‘high modern’ design.  In a nutshell this idea asserts that spaces should have complete flexibility so they can be used for any activity - the starting point is the design and not the function of the space.  This leads to spaces that are generic and nondescript.  “Aha,” I said to my laptop, “ that is the feeling that I often get from modern libraries, although they are beautiful there is no personality or soul in the space.”  Ramus explains that in high modernism the reading room looks just like the copy room, the furniture is just different.  He goes on to explain that his firm took a compartmentalized approach and examined the specific uses of each space in the library.
The library team initially identified all the ways they wanted to use the library and then OMA created five functional boxes.  The boxes, each with their own specific function, are at the core of the design.  They are stacked, off kilter like a tower of presents and covered by a skin that provides structural stability and holds panes of treated glass (opaque from the outside and transparent from the inside).  In my simple mind, I see the library as five shoe boxes, stacked up and covered with plastic wrap and now it makes perfect sense and is delightful.  The library is not an abstract, modern marvel beyond my understanding...it is a series of spaces for people to meet, read, learn, and think, just like it always has been, this one, thanks to Ramus and his team, just happens to be stunning.