(2004-05-20) Blog Journalism Koolhaas Library

Jon Udell contrasts KeithPleas's review of Rem Koolhaas' Seattle Public Library design to that of Paul Goldberger in the Ny Times. The contrast between the two reviews could not be more striking. The Goldberger piece, which opens onto a two-page spread dominated by a huge photo of the library's angular exterior shell, is full of the kinds of airy proclamations that art and architecture critics love to make... But there are no interior photos, and we learn nothing about how users interact with this "ennobling public space."... Keith Pleas decided to find out for himself. Armed with his Digital Camera and a deep understanding of how architecture (in the software realm) can fail the test of use, he investigated the library from the inside out.

Here's an old David Sucher posting about the library.