Thursday, January 8, 2009

Desperate To Be Different

Seattle Central Library: It's gotten rave reviews from all sorts of architecture critics. But does that mean it's any good? Here are the points on the plus side:



  • It holds a lot of books

  • The skin is nearly all window, so the lighting is pretty good in the reading rooms

  • It doesn't smell as bad as the old library

  • It's interesting

  • The "Friends of the Library" shop has cool stuff


On the negative side:




  • Being different is expensive, so they had to skimp on the elevators. They are too few and far too slow.
  • There are escalators serving some levels, but they are freaky. See below.
  • Not good for anyone with a fear of heights
  • Sickening color schemes

The walkway outside:



Plaza on the other side:



Hallway on the meeting room/restroom level: (All you see is dim blurry red?

Yes, that's right. It's not just the photo.)



Look! Some books:



Looking way, way down to the reading room:



Freaky escalators with nauseating color schemes:
(The one with the hole in the wall is an "art" installation and it talks to you in a creepy voice.
I couldn't get a clear picture of it, which is just more proof it's possessed by demons)




Floor in the multilingual area:
(It's embossed with words in many languages...so it's grimy)


The putt-putt elevators: