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Park façade of the previous Courtesy of Perkins&Will
library building.
The most obvious difference is the north façade,
facing the park. With few windows, the former
building separated itself almost completely from
the surroundings, whereas the new building has a
towering glass wall and “porch” directly engaging
the park. The chaste, boxy architecture of the former
building is supplanted by a bold folded-plate roof
with angled columns and a towering wall of glass.
Library users and park users look across at each other,
providing the natural security of “eyes on the street”
and self-reinforcing mutual activation. A patch of
concrete in the former version of the park has been
shifted to become an extension of the library’s porch
and was given upgraded paving and new lighting—
relatively small moves that are transformative. (The
open space had fallen so far that, at one community
session, when the architects indicated an interest in
revitalizing the park, a neighbor asked, “What park?!”)
Less obvious, but equally significant, is the slight
relocation of the library’s entrance. It is now at the
northwest corner of the building on axis with the
pedestrian path, so that someone at the Southwest

Porch struts reflected in the glass façade.

The library as seen from the park.
16 URBAN RE-RENEWAL