Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
Yeah, the grandeur of the exterior does not continue when you enter the building.
Perhaps that can be corrected in a future remodeling?
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I think within the classical paradigm, it's difficult to design a building with open stacks, because it creates so much more square footage that then has to be treated with expensive materials and ornamentation. The famous NY Public Library on 42nd St has closed stacks, so most of the books are contained within a very raw unfinished space that is off-limits to all but librarians, while the public only sees a series of gorgeous lobbies and reading rooms. Of course, this means they need to hire a lot of librarians, but it's also more space-efficient because the stacks can be collapsible or automated, you don't need a bunch of aisles.
For this reason, the interior of the HWPL is mixed quality. Parts are spectacular, like the lobby with the round hole in the floor and the winter garden. Other parts are very pedestrian, like the elevator banks and restrooms. I don't mind having to go up into the stacks, it's a symbolic transition, the knowledge of the library is literally contained on a higher level and you have to go up to access it, often through a relatively constrained staircase. The escalators themselves at the HWPL remind me of malls and I wish they were replaced with an actual staircase.
The lobby itself is gorgeous with the round hole in the floor, and the access sequence to upper levels is literally the same as other renowned libraries like Labrouste's Bibliotheque Ste Genevieve. It doesn't have the cavernous reading room of that library, but instead it has a series of pretty neat study carrels contained within the uber-thick brick perimeter on every floor, that bring a little mystique to every floor of the building.