Design 3
Project 1.1
Seattle Central Library
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| Image from OMA.eu |
General Information
This library is the central library of the other 26 libraries in the "Libraries for All" project that the people voted "YES" to in 1998.
The librarians want the library to be more than a place for books and information, but to be somewhere people can meet, create memories, and feel at ease.
Rem Koolhaas X OMA started working on this project from 1999 and finished in 2004.
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| Original image here |
The analysis of the building is divided into 3 sections.
The whole, which I studied how the form was created,
the part, which is about the escalators and how they connect the programs
and detail, which I looked into different type of surfaces used in the building.
Also compare the building with other libraries form the same and the other architects
How the form was created.
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| Original image here |
The form of the library is a shifted boxes of programs.
The architect didn't want the building to be a boring box of books, so the mass was divided and shifted to the view of the nature that surrounds the city.
The results of the shifting and how the skin wrap around it make the building unconventional and give it big atriums.
How the building is connected together
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| Original Image Here |
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| Original Image Here |
Because the building is the "library for all", it contains many programs to accommodate the needs of all the people. Going from one floor to another by stairs or escalators can be a boring experience. So the architects designed some floor to be the most used by majority of people and give them continuity by linking them directly by escalators. This design helps users to get what they want in the shortest time.
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| Original Image Here |
Different person has different needs, so the approach to the library is different.
OMA used the idea of personas. They divided people into 2 groups which are
- The knowledge acquirer - people who want to dig deep and wide about what they're researching. (People who will look at many books, take them to the reading area, then borrow some of them)
- Information Gatherer - people who want quick and to the point information about what they're interested in. (People who knows what they want and go straight to get only that)
There're also other types of users
- The space user - people who just want to use the space of the library to work on their own materials.
- The space occupier - people who just want to use the basic facility of the public building such as heaters, chairs, and toilet. (Homeless people)
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| Original Image Here. |
One of the highlight of this building is the long one-way escalators that pierce through the book spiral. People can admire the view of the books in the spiral while going up.
It produce the experience that cherish the books.
The Surfaces.
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| Original Image Here |
The interior of the building uses many kinds of material to decorate the space, and create casual boundaries.
(on the first column in the drawing) They use the oversize picture of native plants that grows around the city to be the pattern of the carpets. The concept is to bring the beautiful nature of Seattle inside and that also makes the area look more elegant and playful at the same time.
Also (in the middle column) they have the floor in solid colors. The purpose is to define the area without building a wall.
(In the last column) they also have special material for the surface. The casual boundary from that type of surface is more permanent and gives stronger feeling.
To understand the building deeper, the building is compared to other libraries.
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| Original Image Here |
The diagram above is the Qatar National Library by Rem Koolhaas of OMA, designed more that 10 years later than SPL.
It shows how the form of that building is created.
The architect fold the corners up so people can enter from the middle of the building.
At that point, they can see everything in the library. (The Paper folding method was also used when he disigned the Jussieu Library)
The building also has big atrium which is (almost) the whole building, have it this way also got rid of the navigation problem existing in the Seattle Central Library, and preserve the exiting feeling generate by the form.
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| Original Image Here |
Comparing to the atrium of other libraries, many of them use the same language as the ancient Pantheon (Classical Architecture).
In the diagram above, there are Victoria State Library (1845) by Joseph Reed in Melbourne, Australia, and
Stuttgart City Library (2011) by Yi Architects.
Both of them has the same components as the Pantheon, and that express the grandness and stability, opposite to the SPL that tries to make people feel at ease.
About the escalators
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| Original Image Here |
Above is another library by Rem Koolhaas, The unbuilt award winning design of Bibliothèque nationale de France. The building (the book storage) is carved into voids with different shapes.
Each void contains programs(s) and they are linked together via escalators that pierce through the book storage as same as the one at SPL.
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| Original Image Here |
The Birmingham Library (2013) by Mecanoo also has escalators as the climax of their experience.
Their library goes through the book rotunda, an act to cherish the books. But as same as the traditional layout of escalators in the Amsterdam Public Library (2007) by Jo Coenen & Co Architekten, The escalators connect every level and don't give articulation to any specific programs.
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In the Astana National Library (2009) by Bjarke Ingels Group (was in the team that designed SPL)
The Persian carpets used is also from the context of the city and they gives casual boundaries to the smaller relaxing spaces.
Also, in the Bibliothèque Alexis de Tocqueville (2017) by Chris van Dujin of OMA, the plant carpet was used along with solid color surface, and big carpet in the lobby area, as same as the SPL. They're believed to give the same effects and atmosphere as the carpets in SPL.
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| Original Image Here |
In the 100 years older New York Public Library (1895), there are also a casual boundary defined.
The reading tables in the main reading room was framed by a white stripes. The stripes define the boundary as well as the SPL's, however, it gives the feeling of organizing more that relaxing.
They also have the surface of the ceilings decorated with classical paintings.
However, in one of the most high-tech library, the James B. Hunt Jr. Library (2013) in South Carolina, USA,
they have their surface covered with digital screens, they also have solid color surfaces to lighten the atmosphere
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