A View Down the Avenue

little ukraine: 15th Dec 2006 - 20:40 GMT

I'd be interested to hear the opinions of the NYers on this site (or of anyone who is familiar with it, for that matter) of the Bobst Library, seen here on the left. I have heard quite a wide range opinions on it, but almost exclusively from inevitably biased NYU students. It should be noted that it was done by the seminal Philip Johnson, along with Richard Foster.

The building itself is quite a concept, as it is, in a way, an empty box. An empty box which, with around 3.3 million volumes, somehow contains one the largest collections of academic works in the country. Upon passing through the front revolving doors one enters an enormous square atrium, 12 stories of nothing but air straight above your head. The content of the building is wrapped around the sides, as the stacks ascend from floors 2 through 10 (11 and 12 are reserved for office space) around the perimeter of the building. Every two floors there is a catwalk which wraps around the perimeter and overlooks the atrium, and there are stairs leading from catwalk to catwalk. Due to the absolute emptiness of the atrium, one can walk onto one side of the catwalk and look directly across the library and see four to five completely homogenous floors of stacks, books, desks, and students, a remarkable effect which I tried my best to capture here.

I realize not many people have access to the inside, so I would like to hear what people think of the disctinctive red slabs and overall exterior design of this monolithic structure on the south side of Washington Square Park.

Guy McLaren: 16th Dec 2006 - 10:27 GMT

That sounds like something we need to see some pics of ukraine.

jack's daughter: 16th Dec 2006 - 21:20 GMT

I'd have to agree with you, Little Ukraine, that the Bobst Library at NYU is quite remarkable. The floor of the atrium is based on an Escher design, so if you spent some time walking the catwalks after several hours of studying books, and suddenly looked down, the effect would be devastating to your sense of balance! I received a masters degree from NYU and spent many hours in that library (and often tested my senses after an afternoon of research by attempting to walk down from the top floors on the "catwalks" while looking at the atrium floor -- always gave up quickly though as soon as vertigo took hold of me!). I was so proud to enter the library and admire the immensity of all those floors rising above my head. But honestly, to see the red stone of the building from outside -- it's a bit of an eyesore. The library looks oppressive, which belies the airy quality of its indoors, and stands out in a neighborhood that's, for that most part, all Federalist in architecture and style. It would have been nicer had the architects maintained the feeling of Washington Square Park, but I suppose the very nature of NYC would have been undermined.

little ukraine: 18th Dec 2006 - 04:14 GMT

hello, jack's daughter, and welcome! congrats on the recent master's degree. we seem to share similar feelings for the library. as for my personal opinion, i think it would be best to say the building grew on me after four years. by the time i left i just considered it a really incredible, pretty awesome edifice. i even grew to appreciate the exterior, though as you pointed out, it contrasts so strongly with the rest of the architecture on the Square, all of which, with the extremely notable exception of the Kimmel Student Center (which I rather despise), is absolutely beautiful.
i know that for me, and probably for you too, my fondness grew for the library as i spent more and more time in it; enough nights of studying in the stacks until midnight, then moving to the basement to continue studying until 3 or 4 am really endeared it to me.
there is a certain tragic irony in the atrium floor design, as it was designed (with the Escher pattern, as you noted) to appear as spikes to a person looking down on it from the top floors to discourage suicide; this is a fact which most students remember from their first guided tour of the building, and one which I highly doubt is mentioned on tours anymore. To me, though quite dizzying from 10 stories up, they never looked like spikes.

i will dig around to see if i have any pictures of the interior of the building. this post is also inspiring me to try and assemble an 'architecture of nyu' series, which, however obnoxious it may be, would probably be interesting. i don't have many pictures myself, though, so I'd need some help. I think it would ok to omit the dorm on 7th street, which is clearly the ugliest building on the block.