Downtown Seattle's Library and Market

So, as I explained in my last post, Dave's and my Tokyo trip had a detour to Seattle! I wanted to share some pictures from this quick litttle visit. One of the main things we wanted to see in Downtown Seattle was the Seattle Central Library designed by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus. My memories of learning about this building in my Contemporary Architecture class aren't crystal clear, but I do recall my professor telling us that the strategy used to develop a program for the public library and then use the program to inform the eventual design was so new and exciting she couldn't wait to see the sort of influence that this building's birth would have on future designers methods of design. Check out OMA/LMN Architects' concept book to understand the effort that went into making this library a success.
For our vist, Dave insisted that we have the correct approach, though he had never seen it before in person, much less approached it. :) The correct approach for Dave was from the water, up a giant hill...

...approaching the west side of the building. We are halfway up the hill at this point!

Dave is excited! I was excited! It is the Seattle Central Library! Yay!

This is the "reading room" I believe. The giant atrium brings light to the whole space.

This is looking down to the second level's entrance/exit. The cladding of the building, steel and glass allow for natural lighting every where. Natural light, a seemingly obvious desire for any inhabitant to any space, yet so many of our spaces lack it...

The stacks are on multiple levels and are all "attached" by a ramp that circles each level acting as a spiral to deliver a person seemlessly through each area.

That was a little taste of the library. One critique that I devoped in my very abreviated visit (we only had twenty minutes and then we had to catch the train to the airport) is that it became a little maze-like. Ups and downs were somewhat difficult to find and sort out, but perhaps one who frequents the library knows the layout perfectly!

Here are a few pics from the other things we saw in Seattle.

Looking out over a harbor with mountains in the distance.

A bit of the skyline from the harbor.

Here was the entrance the market. This was a really cool market with fish, fresh fruits and veggies, handmade crafts, baked goods etc... It was pretty cool, but I was distracted by looking at everything to take pictures of the vendors...

Here is a shot of the inside of this market area. Seattle seems to get going a little late. This was probably around 8:30 and still closed. I liked the old time feel of the building though.

Dave and I, happy after our day adventure in downtown Seattle!