Seattle Central Library

The northeast corner of the Central Library at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Spring Street. The partially covered Joshua Green Foundation Arcade leads to the Fifth Avenue entrance.

The Building

"The essence of the Public is that it is free. Our ambition is to redefine the library as an institution no longer exclusively dedicated to the book, but as an information store where all potent forms of media-new and old-are presented equally and legibly. In an age where information can be accessed anywhere, it is the simultaneity of all media and (more importantly) the curatorship of their contents that will make the library vital," says OMA, highlighting the driving force behind their award winning design for the Seattle Central Library.

While flexibility in the library is conventionally translated into the creation of generic floors without a segregation of programs, the Seattle Central Library cultivates a far more refined approach by organizing itself into spatial compartments, each dedicated to, and equipped for, specific duties. Tailored flexibility remains possible within each compartment without the threat of one section hindering the others. This was achieved by the "combing" and consolidation of the library's programs and media, thereafter identifying programmatic clusters-five of stability, and four of instability.

Left: The partially covered Joshua Green Foundation Arcade leads to the Fifth Avenue entrance, Right: The Fifth Avenue entrance to the Central Library

Each platform is thus created as one cluster that is architecturally defined and equipped for maximum, dedicated performance. Because each platform is designed for a unique purpose, their size, flexibility, circulation, palette, structure, and MEP vary. The spaces in between the platforms function as trading floors where librarians inform and stimulate and where the interface between the different platforms is organized i.e. spaces for work, interaction, and play.

Seattle Central Library- Programmatic section [opens in a popup window - 18 KB image]

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