Initial Research- Seattle Central Library

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Seattle Central Library was designed by OMA architectural firm which is run by architect Rem Koolhaas. It was built to replace the old central library that had been there since 1960. Koolhaas won the competition to design a new and improved library in 1998.

 

Seattle Central Library, OMA Architects, 2004

The vision for this library was to be able to redefine it as more than just a place for books but for other forms of media. The architects thought of it as an 'information store' where both old and new information can be accessed and also for the library to act as a 'curator of content' (ArchDaily, 2009).

Koolhaas was inspired by the skyscrapers in Manhattan. He saw them as stacked objects that people can freely move from one floor to another and this vision helped with the flexibility and movement within the library and also its stacked design. Each floor or 'stack' had a specific use assigned to it which also helped with arranging space well within the library. The architects decided to group the functions of the library into two, namely the stable and unstable. The stable functions represented consistency and places that don't require much movement such as staff offices and meeting rooms while the unstable functions were spaces that required constant movement and interaction such as the reading spaces and children's area (Blaisse, 2014). See image below

 

 

Although in this design the floors are arranged in an overlapping way, this can still influence my design layout. For instance, the staff office, conference room, kitchen and toilets can be on the first floor while the reading rooms, computer area, children's area and community hub can be on the second floor (also extending to the roof) or vice versa.

The exterior design has a more geometric form just like my design but also doesn't take the traditional box-shape expected. It is made up of glass and steel. The use of glass for the facade allows for natural light to illuminate the interior and allows for readers to look at the view of the town. It is also energy efficient and cuts down the cost of artificial lighting while the steel helps to give the library structure and support. The steel and glass also intersect to form a diamond pattern, "the geometry provides shade or unusual quantities of daylight where desirable" (ArchDaily, 2009). The combination of these two materials also helps with the visual appeal of the building, making more aesthetically pleasing to look at but also makes it look very modern and 'high tech' especially at  the time in which it was built.

The Seattle Central Library has become a landmark of Seattle, characterized by its bold design and also its flexible use of space which also makes it more accommodating for the user. The new design showed a clear transformation of how a library is viewed nowadays as also a space for information, learning and community.


References

Archdaily (2009). Seattle Central Library / OMA + LMN. [online] ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/11651/seattle-central-library-oma-lmn [Accessed 16 Jul. 2024].

Blaisse, P. (2014). Seattle Central Library | OMA, Bruce Mau Design, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA. [online] Archello. Available at: https://archello.com/project/seattle-central-library [Accessed 20 Jul. 2024].

 

Comments

  1. Sam DarganJuly 21, 2024 at 1:06 PM

    You summarise the design well enough at the beginning and it is good to see you make the links to your idea, but these could be much more extensive. A REALLY good research post is one that recognises the influence of the work on your project in a meaningful way - what did you take from this example in terms of how you look at your own design, beyond the layout?

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