With limited resources and the desire to maintain some of the
characters of the historic library, the design employed an
array of individual reading and activity areas defined by
oversized lampshades. Each shade provides downlight to
the individual work area below while simultaneously
up-lighting the room as a whole. The graphic theme for
each area related to the interests and character of the
neighborhood and included images of the streets,
baseball, the Hudson River etc. The outside of each shade
was rendered in black and white silhouettes; the inside
illustrated scenes of local relevance in full color.