I got a chance to stop in at the Seattle Public Library a couple weeks ago. In case you didn’t hear about it Seattle has a $165 million dollar library designed by Rem Koolhaas.
There are a couple good articles about the building at the Seattle Post Intelligencer and the Seattle Times. They have a ton of great pictures and floor plans. I took some photos of the signage system while I was there that I’ll put on the second page of this post. Additionally the Metropolis magazine had and article about the process of getting this library designed and built. Many of us at the Walker can relate I’m sure. The same magazine also ran a short interview with Mr. Koolhaas. (Thanks for the tip Adam)
It’s great to see another non-profit taking big risks with architecture, and judging from the amount of people using this library I guess this would be a success.
Escalators, elevators, staircases and large transition areas between floors were called out with this bright yellow color. Since much of the building is sloping ramps this kind of call out is surprsingly helpful.
These are the buttons in the elevator. Notice the whitish area is the shape of the building itself. Each buttons height corresponds to the height of the floor it represents.
Shelving labels are indicated by numbers set into the floor in the pathway between shelves.
Each room has a sign in large type integrated into the structure. In this case “mixing chamber” appears on the counter.
Most of the escalators were illuminated from the inside which made it hard to photograph the type on them. This one was turned off for some reason so i snapped a picture of the sign. Notice each escalator tells you in large type where you are going when your on it.
Nice article about Seattle Public Library.
What was your experience like on the sloping floor areas? How does the staff like them? How do visitors like them? Do you know what angle of slope these areas are? I’ve heard 1:20 but can’t find any confirming info.
Thanks for any information you can provide.
Nick Paffett
Krent/Paffett/Carney, Inc.
Comment by Nick Paffett — April 12, 2006 @ 9:41 am
It struggle new paradigm of what library ‘means’.
Comment by AM Putra — May 16, 2007 @ 4:30 pm
hey !! im redesigning this building in an abstract way and i cant find enof info if anyone can help please email links or whatever that you know to me! i would realy appreciate that
many thanks
suzy
persianize@hotmail.co.uk
Comment by suzy — March 24, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
Wrong metric. The SPL main library building is not a success. It’s a non-failure.
This is another architectural monstrosity that looks great, but is counterproductive to the functioning of a library. Lots of people are using the library? Well, gee, it’s the central library, where else would they go? How many people were using the library before the new monstrosity was built? How many people would use the library if a plainer building were built in its place?
The library has a section with hollow metal stairs that echo loudly and make it hard for people to read. The massive computer room with its exposed insulation and dark high ceilings feels distinctly industrial, and unwelcoming. The book spiral (a neat idea, actually) doesn’t actually work because it’s straight, not curved. The main stacks have low ceilings and limited floor space (because the stacks are totally bisected by the escalator).
You want a library that actually works well as alibrary? Go across Lake Washington from Seattle, to the Bellevue Public Library. Very restrained design, and it’s not going to have tourists coming in to gawk. But it’s a super-inviting library that you actually want to go to when you need a book, or a place to work, or to people-watch, or whatever. P.S. the King County Library System is far more successful than the Seattle Public Library — to the extent that they had to cut down on the cross-honoring scheme with the SPL, because SPL patrons were borrowing way more from KCLS than the reverse.
(This is not the result of the buildings — to a certain extent, KCLS is richer, being located in the suburbs and with a dedicated tax base. But if you look at any of KCLS’s buildings, you can see that they’ve totally prioritized function over form. It’s a mindset of serving customers quietly but successfully, versus a bunch of donors giving some capital funds so they can show their friends: Hey, lookie at the “innovative architecture” that I helped bring to my city. Indeed, this backfired when Seattle had to cut down on library hours to balance the budget, and people instantly said: So why did you waste all that money building that monstrosity in downtown?
Read the book: The Design of Everyday Things. He compares two buildings. One was a building that won the architect awards, but the users hated. The other one was a plain-as-can-be office building — you know, rectangular, steel, glass — but the occupants loved it, because it was actually arranged to make their jobs easier. Sound familiar?
Comment by Desperate for Functional Architecture — April 18, 2008 @ 7:48 pm
i moved here from los angeles in september of last year and am surprised at how bitchy and unappreciative the majority of seattle’s populace is over many of the amazing things that are here. unfortunately i feel i could loop the above commenter in with the group. i feel the seattle central library is extremely functional – in fact brilliantly designed – as a library. and its an absolute work of art as a piece of architecture and beyond anything else it’s simply inspiring and fun. since moving here i have spent days on end at this place and it never becomes tiresome, and i’m always able to find what i’m looking for or simply just sit on my laptop in various parts of the building soaking in the awesome that surrounds me. the building is breathtaking, beautiful, and highly functional for the purpose it serves. the spiral design is complete genius for the virtually limitless expansion possible of the book section. i really love seattle but the fact that the populace seems like such a bunch of stuck-up self righteous pricks who can’t appreciate a good thing if it’s shoved in their face truly becomes tedious at times.
Comment by turbo — July 25, 2008 @ 7:16 am