http://thomashawk.com/2008/07/seattles-central-library.html Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:33:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://thomashawk.com/2008/07/seattles-central-library.html/comment-page-1#comment-1313 Celine Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:56:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/thomashawk/?p=224#comment-1313 Thomas, if you ever decide to give up your addiction, I know a needy home for your lenses (and camera). ;) Thomas, if you ever decide to give up your addiction, I know a needy home for your lenses (and camera).

]]> http://thomashawk.com/2008/07/seattles-central-library.html/comment-page-1#comment-1314 Scott Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:17:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/thomashawk/?p=224#comment-1314 It's definitely eye candy, but it's not a particularly functional building. Just ask some of the employees to give you directions - they probably can't. The complex and partially spiraling floor plan make finding items difficult. Long escalators separate several floors and completely bypass some, and some up escalators are not paired with down escalators, making it much harder to descend and exit the upper floors than to enter them. Views from the upper floors - which should be commanding - are quite limited for patrons, and the sloped window ceilings are festooned with bird droppings. Drinking fountains and restrooms are few and far between. Elevators serve floors which the escalators skip, but the spiraling upper floor plan makes them difficult to access quickly. And the $169M price tag only increased the floorspace of the previous structure by about 50%. All in all, the building was really designed to look great (which is accomplished, and the some), but it was definitely not designed for the library's core purpose: organizing and presenting information logically and conveniently for easy access and public consumption. It’s definitely eye candy, but it’s not a particularly functional building. Just ask some of the employees to give you directions – they probably can’t. The complex and partially spiraling floor plan make finding items difficult. Long escalators separate several floors and completely bypass some, and some up escalators are not paired with down escalators, making it much harder to descend and exit the upper floors than to enter them. Views from the upper floors – which should be commanding – are quite limited for patrons, and the sloped window ceilings are festooned with bird droppings. Drinking fountains and restrooms are few and far between. Elevators serve floors which the escalators skip, but the spiraling upper floor plan makes them difficult to access quickly. And the $169M price tag only increased the floorspace of the previous structure by about 50%. All in all, the building was really designed to look great (which is accomplished, and the some), but it was definitely not designed for the library’s core purpose: organizing and presenting information logically and conveniently for easy access and public consumption.

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