The Evanston Public Library National Competition

with Georgia Tech College of Architecture graduate students
1991 AIA Architectural Citation

This competition proposal for a 120,000 SF public library begins with an open book displayed on a writing box located in the ground floor atrium. The book is an introduction to Plato's myth of the case-the timeless allegory upon which the scheme is based. The ascent towards light, like the ascent towards knowledge, is expressed symbolically and programmatically through vertical layering. The children's collection and library services are located on the ground floor, adult collection on the second, and reference and reading on the third. Support functions are stacked vertically along the northeast wall, allowing for maximum flexibility and expansion. The areas in which the library books themselves are used are aligned with the established orthogonal urban grid of Evanston, reinforcing a familiar social order on the building's exterior face. The vertical public circulation space is aligned with the cosmic order however, tracking the rising and setting sun and reminding the patron of his or her fundamental relation to nature. The south facing curved walls are the stages upon which the shadows of Plato's marionette players are cast as they escape the darkness of the cave in their pursuit of knowledge.