CLIPS OF SEATTLE LIBRARY: INTERVIEW WITH HOMELESS MAN AND SHOTS OF STRUCTURE. This footage is part of a feature length Documentary film that I am making about my father Rem Koolhaas.
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Worst building ever. It's a complete disaster, and the SPL should be ashamed for blowing all that public money on it. Totally irresponsible of them.
And no wonder you need homeless people to talk about it. It's full of them. It might as well be a homeless shelter and open toilet. Great project for being emblematic of all the failures of modern society, but not much else.
It's a major, shameful failure of both architecture and urbanism. The day it opened, the librarians had to tape up photocopied direction signs everywhere because people kept getting lost. They're still up. Now, a few years later, all the finishes are worn and tired. The whole thing looks ratty and cheap, inside and out. The only interesting thing about it then and now was the structure. But that's pretty much it. It's actually a very unpleasant building to spend any length of time in, even without the legions of bums who call it home. Its internal acoustics are legendarily bad. The "public" spaces around it at street level are very inhospitable and uncomfortable to be in. Its sloped glass roof reflects the sun directly into my office every afternoon, so I've got a couple pieces of cardboard taped on the window to block the view of it and let me still see the rest of the city.
It was wasteful, arrogant, and irresponsible to have built it. But that pretty much describes everything about Koolhaas, doesn't it.
one of this homeless verbally assaulted me before on the top reading floor. every time i visit the top floor , they are sleeping everywhere that the library had to remove all the couch in the top floor and replace them with a wood chairs ! if u thinking about using bathrooms their just don't. level 7-9 which joshua prince ramus called it parking garage for books its actually looks and smells like parking garage what a disappointment .
9 Comments
now that's some post-occupancy research...!
I knew about this film for a few years. What is the status? In post-production stage yet?
eric
first of all, that's fantastic. we need more public buildings like this. but also, holy shit it's homeless josh hartnett.
Worst building ever. It's a complete disaster, and the SPL should be ashamed for blowing all that public money on it. Totally irresponsible of them.
And no wonder you need homeless people to talk about it. It's full of them. It might as well be a homeless shelter and open toilet. Great project for being emblematic of all the failures of modern society, but not much else.
I think that's River Phoenix.
Koolhaas wanted a hospital for the homeless in the library.
Is this building really a "failure" ?
It's just a public building.
It's a major, shameful failure of both architecture and urbanism. The day it opened, the librarians had to tape up photocopied direction signs everywhere because people kept getting lost. They're still up. Now, a few years later, all the finishes are worn and tired. The whole thing looks ratty and cheap, inside and out. The only interesting thing about it then and now was the structure. But that's pretty much it. It's actually a very unpleasant building to spend any length of time in, even without the legions of bums who call it home. Its internal acoustics are legendarily bad. The "public" spaces around it at street level are very inhospitable and uncomfortable to be in. Its sloped glass roof reflects the sun directly into my office every afternoon, so I've got a couple pieces of cardboard taped on the window to block the view of it and let me still see the rest of the city.
It was wasteful, arrogant, and irresponsible to have built it. But that pretty much describes everything about Koolhaas, doesn't it.
gwhearts I can almost feel your rays of sunshine,
its use will change, maybe the glass will get switched, and maybe it will become a homeless shelter.
I do agree about the public spaces.
i totally side with gwhearts
one of this homeless verbally assaulted me before on the top reading floor. every time i visit the top floor , they are sleeping everywhere that the library had to remove all the couch in the top floor and replace them with a wood chairs ! if u thinking about using bathrooms their just don't. level 7-9 which joshua prince ramus called it parking garage for books its actually looks and smells like parking garage what a disappointment .