How did the aspect and orientation influence your response?
That simply poses additional challenges, both with the
orientation of the building facing east west, with no
possibility of getting north or south windows. You have to
deal with that. If you want to activate the street, you've got
to deal with having glass on the western façade, or the
eastern façade. You're also sitting underneath the flight path
and have a major highway next to the building. If you're
going to achieve that light transparent building, selection of
the glass becomes fundamental to that decision process.
How does this library vary from those of previous
generations?
Libraries should be open, lively; they should be destinations.
Those old-fashion libraries were places where you came,
got your book, ran home and read it. Our modern libraries
are community centers. People come into them, they use
them as a resource in their own right. They may not be
borrowing anything. They just might be using the space:
meeting, socializing, reading. They are really community
centers with books in them.