The new Seattle "Library"

[icarus]

wildernessguru and I visited the new multi-million-dollar Seattle Library.

Inside, it had that warehouse feel and bright colours of an IKEA store. There were high windows, letting lots of light. I would call that the only plus. The only entrance I saw was a revolving glass door.

The different sections of the library were named after various donors, so you had to ask the front desk where, say, periodicals section was. "Oh, that's the Mrs. Wealthy Widow room, next to Bill Gates hall..."

There were computers everywhere and hardly any books in sight. The bookshelves in the main atrium (which felt like a hotel lobby) were waist-high display cases. Many of the Seattle Public Library books have to be warehoused off-site because the new "library" doesn't have space.

Going up the bright florescent yellow escalator, there was a plexi-glassed hole in the wall with some TV screens showing a close-up of wrinkled lips moving, with an overly loud voice-over, and a close-up an eye opening -- giving this bizarre Big Brother feel.

After being thoroughly creeped out, we emerged onto the next level. The floor was made of a kind of uneven, loud metal plate. This section was dark, with eerie red overhead track lighting. Again, there were no books in sight, just computers. It had the effect of a slightly unpleasant internet cafe, designed to make sure people don't get too comfortable.

And that's when I saw it. The railing overlooking the "hotel lobby." Only four feet "flip-over" high, this flimsy metal was the only thing between you and a splattered watermelon head on the floor below.

Your only route to the upper floors? A glass elevator, not fully enclosed, with a similar railing.

That was enough for me. It was my first, and likely last visit to our new multi-million dollar "library." I will be visiting the smaller branch libraries instead now, and (since they'll have to order the books from off-site anyway) order books from there. I hate it that they destroyed our library, in which I spent many hours, for this. Who are they kidding?

Today's Seattle Times has a detailed article about how inaccessible this library is to the disabled.

Uhm-hmm.

Comments

[jadarene.livejournal.com]

Oh, my God, that's both pathetic AND depressing. Wonderful. The article really just tops it. Okay, there are too many things wrong with this whole situation for me to comment on, so I'll just say "beh," and move on.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*shakes head* It's absurd. The worst part is the "no books" but what freaked me out was the potential to take a header over that railing. Then, the noise up the escalator... yeah, you're right, there's too much wrong with this picture.

Icarus

[jadarene.livejournal.com]

You know what? Somebody should file a claim with the city to get a safety inspector in there. Although how that passed the inspection in the first place...

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

Dude that is so no a library....damn.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

More like an over-priced, over-sized internet cafe. An unpleasant one.

Icarus

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Out of masochistic curiosity, since our own new-ish National Library (http://www.archinform.net/projekte/797.htm?ID=qas5PnGGGkxI4Gix) is another bookless architect's nightmare, who is the architect of yours?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Rem koolhaas. He's Dutch, so I guess he feels a sense of freedom to do whatever he likes with our library.

Tell me this is the same architect. Because I'd hate to think there's more than one.

Icarus

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Of course there are many more than one, or had you never until now been exposed to the violent sham that is Modern Architecture? Ours is Dominique Perrault. But I know about Rem Koolhaas. Figures.

(I strongly recommend, in the June issue of Vanity Fair, the hilarious piece about the Richard Meier condo in Manhattan and how the millionnaire owners got shafted. And Meier's public architecture, like the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, is actually rather good!)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, it was wishful thinking. Unfortunately I've had more than my share of modern archecture. Seattle currently houses The Experience Music Project, what we call "The Big Ugly," which looks rather like a colourful pile of dinosaur crap.

Icarus

[ragnhildholm.livejournal.com]

My idea of a library is centred around the (incredibly old-fashioned, I know) idea that it's supposed to be a collection of books. Obviously, I'm completely out of it...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Heavens! Books -?

Really?

Icarus

[ragnhildholm.livejournal.com]

*grins*

[byandby.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain and extend my sympathies to you.

My local library branch is nice, new and rather pretty, yet so incredibly small.

I want to walk into a library and be surrounded by the books - dark aisles, ceiling-high bookshelves, the smell of old paper....

I could cry.

[thalia]

Interesting. The Chicago Tribune recently had an article about how the architecture of the new Seattle library beats that of the semi-new Chicago main library six ways from Sunday. OTOH, the Chicago library actually contains books--as well as a lack of scary railings--so I think I won't complain.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

You can write the Chicago Tribune and tell them Seattle would like their old library back. You know, the one with the books.

It looks like this one is mostly designed to keep people out. The homeless hung out in the old Seattle Public library, so it's pretty clear who they're trying to keep out. But in making it uncomfortable for the homeless, they're doing the same to everyone else.

Icarus

[fourth-moon.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the designers were too busy trying to be original, creative, modern, up-to-date, and maybe "make a statement" too, to be bothered with unimaginative stuff like user-friendliness.

(What kind of statement? Who cares? You make a statement, that's the point. Rather like "It's about the principle of the thing.")

Sad sad sad. I like old libraries in high ceiling rooms, but one of the libraries I enjoyed most was the city library in Andover (Massachusetts). A few computers to find the books, and then rows and rows and rows of fascinating, entertaining books. Plus very friendly and helpful employees. Didn't suffer anything from the lack of large screens, interesting metal-floors or the name "Bill Gates" printed on shelves.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

My kind of library? The Library of Congress. Now that's a library.

Icarus

Sorry, late reply. My internet-access was shot.

[fourth-moon.livejournal.com]

The Library of Congress. Now that's a library.

What is it like? What makes it special?

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

Many of the Seattle Public Library books have to be warehoused off-site because the new "library" doesn't have space.

That's the case with San Francisco's new library. Lots of posh postmodern empty space. Few books. Feh.

I didn't realize you were in Seattle. That's where I grew up, and it's still my second home. I miss the old downtown library, hideous as it was with its '50s architecture. It smelled of books, you know?

[lyricalnights.livejournal.com]

I weep. Why do people not understand that "functional" and "pretty" do not have to be mutually exclusive?

[maelwaedd.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's freaking horrible. :(

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

One word:

Ewww. tHat doe snot seem conducive to study or relaxing with a book- or even having public meetings.
The design sounds horrific- if you are not balanced well, you can seriously hurt yourself. And forget class trips with children!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

It's awful. My hopes went up when I saw all the skylights -- you need light in Seattle -- and I figured the squat bookshelves would be replaced over time with real library shelves, archetects be damned. But when I went to the upper floors... nothing's going to fix that.

By the way... about that Percyfest story *nudge, nudge* How's it coming? I've left people alone since I've been too busy to do otherwise, but there are some hungry people still waiting for their challenges. ^.^

Icarus

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

Bad me! Bad me! And hey, since I am unemployed for now, I have time to do it!

*irons hand*

[mark356.livejournal.com]

Wah! Money to libraries is generally a very good thing, I love it when libraries get large sums of money, and I wish that every library in the world had unlimited money, so it's excruciating to read about this library that got all the money it wanted and turned from a pleasant, functional library into that monstrosity! It's a travesty!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I knew we were doomed to something amazingly impractical when they said "Seattle's a world-class city, and deserves a world-class library." Glk. Every project here headed with "world-class" has been an over-sized behemoth in competition with New York and Chicago -- yet Seattle is not really urban, so these urbanizations are out of place (see the convention center). Yet this is much worse than I imagined. I'd figure it would at least be safe and contain books.

I miss the Library of Congress...

Icarus