With ALA Midwinter attendees gathering in Seattle this week, it’s no surprise that attention is focused on the daring architecture of the Seattle Central Public Library (SPL). If I thought that the controversy over its design had been put to rest in the 2 1/2 years since the grand opening, I was disabused of that notion when I read a January 3rd PubLib post entitled More on Koolhaas’s library . . .” The writer calls the building “squat” and “brutal,” cites some of the negative press from 2004, and concludes that “In short, the building is there not to help you but to mug you.”
The Seattle Central Library is the subject of a chapter in the recent book The Library as Place: History, Community, and Culture. The chapter reports on a study* of the SPL conducted by faculty and students at the University of Washington iSchool, in which they consider the meaning of library as place and research the placeness of Seattle’s brave new structure. I was privileged to assist in the literature review phase of the study. In doing so, I learned a lot about the conceptual framework of the “Koolhaas Library” –about Koolhaas’ avant garde philosophy—one that sees a building as more than form (with functions)—sees it as an event-structure.
What makes the Central Library an event-structure? The glass skin breathes with light and sky, and uses nature and the surrounding cityscape to provide an endlessly varying atmosphere. The internal space is so irregular and surprising that one local architect likened it to a kind of indoor wilderness, with all the elements of a good hike through valleys, meadows, and up steep climbs to great vistas.** An event-structure has to be a lived experience.
The PubLib poster urges all Midwinter attendees to “go to downtown Seattle, look and judge carefully, and report back to the list.” He concedes that “After all, I could be wrong.” I agree with him on that point: do go see the place for yourself.
Love it or hate it, but do your best to live the experience.
* Karen Fisher/Associate Professor, Matthew L. Saxton/ Associate Professor, Phillip M. Edwards/Doctoral Candidate, and Jens-Erik Mai/Professor
** Stadler, Matthew. “An Artificial Heart.” Nest, no. 24 (Spring 2004): 117-130.