Porch, Atrium, Terrace: A Deeper Look At Lake | Flato's Austin Central Library

2020-01-08T09:00:00-05:00

In recent years, public libraries have taken on a renewed prominence in American cities as vital community spaces that provide access to a growing array of necessary amenities and services, including internet and other technologies, air conditioning, continuing education opportunities and so much more. Increasingly, despite—or perhaps, because—of the fact that our day-to-day lives are becoming ever-more digitized, libraries are reasserting and expanding upon their fundamentally social and public character, a tendency that is being reflected more and more via the architecture of these facilities. The Austin Central Library, completed in 2017 and designed via a joint partnership between Lake | Flato and Shepley Bulfinch, represents an example of this emerging library-as-social-condenser model. The library, anchored by a collection of generous public spaces that include a six-level central atrium, roof top terraces, and reading porches, acts as a new node for Austin's growing downtown ...

Archinect - Features

Porch, Atrium, Terrace: A Deeper Look At Lake | Flato's Austin Central Library