OMA’s celebration of ‘bigness’, which began
with the unrealized library in Paris, found
its material manifestation and ideological
satisfaction in Seattle. As a building meant
to provide ‘a civic space for the circulation
of knowledge in all media’, the library would
not only hold books but also lend access
to all types of digital media. Completed
before the proliferation of smartphones
(the iPhone was invented in 2007), the
library, with its free internet access and an
abundance of computers, was presented asa stronghold of free knowledge. Its func-
tions are divided into two categories: ‘stable’
programmes, such as offices, meeting rooms
and the innovative Books Spiral (a flexible
storage ramp designed to accommodate 1.5
million books); and ‘unstable’ spaces, such as
living and reading rooms. Stable functions
are grouped into defined platforms and
stacked irregularly; in-between spaces are
crisscrossed with escalators; and leftover
room houses unstable programmes. This
seemingly simple architectural form – notonly a diagram but also contextual – is
wrapped in a glass envelope, giving the
building its faceted and now iconic shape.
Projecting volumes, especially the cantilever,
cast irregular shadows on interior rooms
that afford views of the urban context. »Ph
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A counterpoise of stable and unstable
spaces, the Seattle Central Library
answers the question of how to design
an institution that offers access to digital
as well as physical media.2004
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY
FRAME LAB 159