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March 27, 2007
Rem Koolhaas library in Seattle - would you WANT to use the building?
Here is an interesting review 3 years on of Rem Koolhaas's library for downtown Seattle. Here are lots of photographs, models, and diagrams. The reviewer doesn't deny the helpful publicity of a fancy building or its good looks, but . . . but . . . well.
The Central Library hasn't stumbled in its iconic mission, not at all. It has energized our urban center more than any building in Seattle's history. It has launched both the image and substance of the Seattle Public Library into a new era.Read the whole article. The author, a serious architectural critic, has taken 3 years to think about the building.Its provocation has infused us with new thinking about the possibilities of architecture and urbanism, far more than the Space Needle and Experience Music Project ever did. The Needle is beautiful and EMP is bizarre, but the Central Library has both of these qualities plus a visible structural integrity that seems almost spiritual. We feel these qualities at gut level when we walk around the building or wander through as sightseers. It's only when we settle in for a day's real library work that the design failures suddenly intrude.
A building can be great and still have glaring functional flaws -- in fact, great buildings always do. An inspirational space usually works at cross purposes to efficient function, but when it's overwhelmingly good, its art trumps the shortfall of craft. There's something missing from the art in this building, and it's so basic and simple that it can be captured in one word: warmth.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at March 27, 2007 6:41 AM