This past month saw the opening of Snøhetta’s Far Rockaway Library in Queens, New York. The $39 million project contributes towards the continued revitalization of the community that was heavily impacted by Hurricane Sandy, adding an 18,000-square-foot facility that doubles the size of its 56-year-old predecessor.
Artist José Parlá’s Style Writing (2022) mural design wraps the glass facade of the building, giving credence to the firm’s intentions of establishing a space dedicated to writers away from the city’s traditional literary strongholds in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Inside, users are immersed in a lively “ephemeral” library experience suffused with natural light and augmented with different occupancy sensors that work to reduce energy usage in unison with its building management system.
Pointing to the project's ability to support "joy" and "learning", Snøhetta's Founding Partner Craig Dykers says its vibrant color palette took inspiration from the diverse makeup of the neighborhood.
Another artwork dedicated to the Far Rockaway-born physicist Richard Feynman made by Pablo Helguera intricately recreates the words of Emily Dickinson alongside Feynman's dictum "I, a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe." The building also features an underfloor heating distribution system ‘blue roof’ that has been designed to release stormwater at a controlled pace.
As such, this is a LEED Gold-certified project. Another similar 'green design' from the firm to follow closely is the forthcoming emerald-colored Westchester Square Library in the Bronx, which they expect to see opened by the end of 2025.
3 Comments
Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.
Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.Put. The. Stacks. On. The. Stairs.
Or. Not.
Do libraries even have physical books anymore?
There's one supplemental photo with a hint of stacks.
Beautiful project, but I find it to be not very engaging of its urban context. The riff on art/graffiti with the opaque facade is nice, but turns its back to the pedestrians on the streets.
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