A note on John Massengale's comment, prior post

Massengale asks a good question.

No, I do not necessarily agree with Don Padelford's idea that (paraphrased) "the Living Room is Seattle's great interior public space." He may well be correct. Then again...But honestly, at this point I have no opinion of the inside of the building as I haven't been there.

You know my very negative opinion of the sidewalk-level exterior, at least based on review of plans and model. You know my indifference to the Library as a large object, a Very Large Scale Sculpture. You know my feeling of revulsion and contempt for the giddy hero-worship which accompanies this object and its black-garbed starchitect of obscure words.

But I like to think of myself as ruthlessly rigorous. I haven't been inside the Library (nor did I ever study the plans) so I cannot possibly have an opinion. Yet.

But one related memory: the very first article about the design -- now some 4 years ago -- quoted the City Librarian, an otherwise charming and obviously astute woman named Deborah Jacobs, as lauding the library as having "natural light-filled reading rooms." (That's a quote from memory, to be scrupulous.) My bs-detector went off and that very statement got me interested in the library design. As one who has read many hundreds, maybe even thousands, of books from cover-to-cover, I can tell you that the last thing that a reader wants is a room which is in direct sun-light. The very idea is preposterous. Perhaps the glass used for the Library is of a type which softens and filters harsh natural light and so all is well. But bright sunlight -- as Ms. Jacobs offered as a positive -- seems to me to be a bizzare and inappropriate way to illuminate a printed page.

UPDATE: Btw, one dynamic which should not be overlooked in analyzing a building and how it contributes to the city is GIGO: "Garbage In, Garbage Out."

What that means in terms of a building is that if The Client is not clear and enlightened in explaining The Program to The Architect, then it's not fair to lay all blame on The Architect.

Now I have had enough experiences with professionals to suggest that it is extremely irksome and aggravating to run inro a problem and the response from The Professional is "Well, you didn't ask me to look at that issue." Of course, they are the Pros and are supposed to be able to anticipate the issues and to indform the client; after all, that's why they have the license and get the big bucks. So, while Rem Koolhaas can't escape entirely (should he need to escaoe) from designing an anti-urban structure, you also have to lay off some responsibilty on The Client. I mean, they are not potted plants, just sitting there on the window sill.

Comments

[Sheri Harris]

Perhaps the head librarian is one of those who read at the beach?! I never could understand how people could read at the beach--sunlight, sand and
boredom.

[Michael Blowhard]

So visit the Library already and let us know you how you respond! We're waiting and eager!

[Matthew Amster-Burton]

I've been a couple of times now, and if I remember right, the glass in the reading room has some kind of punched-metal grid over it to filter the light. It's not terrible reading light, but it struck me as very blue light, and I'd rather read in more reddish-orange light, the kind you get from a GE soft white bulb. (I'm guessing at the color points here.)

I found the reading room to be one of the worst parts of the library. It's part of a larger, strangely-shaped room, and so it feels like a small leftover. I'm guessing it's not actually that small, but it feels small. It's anything but grand.

Someone else made this comment already, I think, but the first thing you see when you walk in the 4th avenue entrance is lots and lots of exposed concrete. I don't know what the architecture of the future will look like, but I know exposed gray concrete isn't it. Love the book spiral, though.

I can't wait to see what they build in forty years when they tear this one down.

[Alan Sullivan]

When artists speak of natural light, they mean the light from a sunless northern exposure. On a clear day this can have a slight blueness, and it is certainly a cooler hue than light of an incandescent bulb, though it lacks the annoying harshness and subliminal flicker of fluorescent tubes. Natural light is the best for color perception, but not necessarily the most agreeable for reading.

Stefan Sharkansky of Sharkblog lives in Seattle and has been disparaging this building for a number of well-founded reasons.

[Ophelia Benson]

But surely a sunny room is a good place to read provided one is not actually in the sunbeam. But if the whole room is lit by the sun - that's good isn't it? I like it, at least.