Seattle Public Library - September 1st, 2010

Alright, so we finally went to the Seattle Public Library (it only took us a full year). If you haven’t ever seen it before, it’s a bit jarring; the structure itself is a large misshapen monster of glass that looks more like an enormous greenhouse than anything else, and it’s plopped down in the middle of the city with older, much more boring architecture surrounding it. I grabbed a few shots inside but there were really only a couple that I liked enough to post. C’est la vie, non?

The shot above turned out to be one of my favorites, I call it “Let your feet guide you.” The library is so big and labyrinthian inside that in order to make it easier to navigate, they placed sorting numbers on floor tiles between aisles. I would say they’re Dewey Decimal sorting codes, but I could have sworn they stopped calling them that a few years ago. Either way, it’s pretty useful when you’re lost in a library this size. Full size available here.

Window Grid

I grabbed this shot on the 10th floor, looking northwest from an interior sort of crow’s nest they have set up. Full size available here.

Down Below

This was also shot on the 10th floor, looking down into the cavernous center of the building. It can cause a feeling of acrophobia just being up there, and the floor at the bottom isn’t even ground level, either — it’s the 3rd floor. Full size available here.

Browsing Unevenly

The entire library was made by designers looking to make it unlike other libraries, so there are pockets of completely uneven layouts right next to perfectly ordered sections. It’s nice to break the monotony. Full size available here.

Going Up

We found liberal use of extremely long, narrow escalators. Full size available here.

Book Return

I grabbed this one as we were leaving, just outside the library on 5th Avenue. I think she was homeless; she was just standing there, staring at the book return box. Full size available here.