Today's archidose #75
The Phoenix Central Library by Will Bruder.
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This blog wrapped in early 2024, though it continues as a Substack newsletter with the same name: archidose.substack.com
It looks like a factory, which is not really the kind of atmosphere I would find useful for studying.
ReplyDeleteIt may look like one but it doesn't feel like one, especially if one were to see out the large window behind the photographer and its great view of Phoenix and its environs, something you usually don't get in a factory.
ReplyDeletefoucault book is a great choice
ReplyDeleteonly really discovered him recently though a studio I'm taking, in which we are given the task of designing a heterotopia, but from what I've been exposed to...insane
in the good sense
This kind of design is saddeningly devoid of life. Horrors!
ReplyDeleteWow, evryone is so down on this building, I thought it was kind of cute.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely best seen in person. Maybe that's why it "made the cut," as I appreciate it on another level beyond what this image presents.
ReplyDeleteDo any of the columns directly touch the ceiling, or does it actually float via the tensile supports?
ReplyDeletethanks for the feature...!
ReplyDeletethe top floor was pretty empty the day i visited but it was in the middle of the week during the afternoon.
joelmck..the ceiling does float above the columns. skylights above the columns illuminate them during the summer solstice
from phoenixpubliclibrary.org
"A 32-foot high "Floating Ceiling" is suspended by cables over the Great Reading Room of 43,000 square feet on the fifth floor. Six-inch-wide skylights run the entire 300 foot length of the east and west walls. Round skylights covered by lenses create an illusion of flames at noon on the summer solstice, June 21st."
Thanks for the clarification, Thomas. Bruder spoke about this library many years ago in Chicago, whose library he just abhorred, saying the city should have hired him to design it, and if they did it'd be better and under budget. Quite the modest guy.
ReplyDelete"It may look like one but it doesn't feel like one, especially if one were to see out the large window behind the photographer and its great view of Phoenix and its environs, something you usually don't get in a factory."
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that I rarely get a chance to visit these buildings in person; I imagine the silence is very un-factory like too.
But my point is that it has a scientific management feel to it. Every desk is the same, perfectly lined up, neat and exact, uniform. Maybe this is personal preference, but I like the choice of sitting in front of a window, or hiding from such distractions as a beautiful view, or finding a little secluded area to work in. Subtle things like being able to have my back to a wall or being able to bury myself among the book shelves. These things are important.
I actually quite like it for its own sake, but it strikes me as another building that favours grandness over functionality.
I think this building's interior is great. I like the creative use of a tensegrity structure to hold up the roof.
ReplyDeleteI like that it has the superb structural expression of a Norman Foster building, but with a great deal more subtlety.
I'm impressed
From what I recall, the other parts of the library are impressive, too.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/marco2001/sets/72157621180840958/
ReplyDelete