Seattle Central Library, 2004, OMA + LMN

The Seattle Central Library in Seattle Washington was triggered by a proposal by the City librarian Deborah L. Jacob’s to renovate the Seattle libraries. To her “Seattle is a city of readers, but our library buildings were getting tired”, the importance of the Public library system to the city was clear and the building and operative system of the library’s were becoming outdated. The Seattle library was conceived after her initiative was supported by voters in favor to spend 196 million Dollars along with other private donations on revamping the libraries. Among these libraries was the construction of New Seattle Central Library.

The section and plans of the building design are based on its program’s spatial necessities, the main concept was to create a building whose structure is defined by its program rather than a building whose structure defines how the program should be distributed. Among the buildings main spaces is the Book Spiral, which was designed to help create an uninterrupted organizational system for the book collections, expansive range from 000-999. In the plans we see that interior levels are not purely horizontal nor isolate from one another but rather are bent and shaped to create spaces within space. For example the second level creates interesting areas and corners that act as indoor public space platforms for different happenings from the social to the quite and studious.

Personally although the building offers a unique interior it could be argued ‏that the building is place-less in terms of contextual relativism and/or engagement. As in a statement expressed by Writer Benjamin Fried on ‘Project for Public Spaces’ he explains the “Library’s interior spaces succeed as comfortable gathering places but are too insulated from downtown Seattle”. Although the performance of the building within itself space succeeded, it maintains as an introverted experience rather than an echoing succession through its neighboring streets to more strongly engage the city.

Lara Waked

Originally Posted by Lara Waked on: http://www.daviddiez.com/SDW/?p=1551