Seattle Central Library I just took a tour around this incredible futuristic building. The main reading rooms are wildly imaginative and filled with light, space and imagination. At the same time, there is something stark and alien about the rooms. Little flourescent touches -- an escalator here, a walkway there -- make it clear that we are participating in someone's futuristic vision. Some of the upper floors are painted wild day-glo colors and you walk the corridors feeling like an extra in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The exterior is striking but reminiscent of bold 1960s architecture. Forty years later, one wonders what was in their mind in the 60s when they built those bold, sculpted boxes. Since the library is a promoted tourist center, everyone feels free to talk here. An elderly couple opposite me are looking at pictures they took on their digital camera of the original Starbucks in Pike's Market. They don't stop talking and I might be inclined to revive an old library ritual if they don't shut soon. Remember that one --- shhhhhhhhhh! Of course, that ritual dates to a time when libraries were used for reading and research and contemplation. The Central Library has endless promotional literature on how it is environmentally friendly, sustainable and architecturally innovative. On the other hand, there is very little mention about the library's actual collection. What exactly do they have here? They do have lots of computer terminals. This is Microsoftland after all and Microsoft (along with Starbucks) are heavy contributors. I suppose much of the collection is digitized. They also have public internet terminals and lots of people are buying things with their credit cards in plain view. I'm considering copying down some of their numbers and getting into identity theft. Nevertheless, it is a striking building and I hope it does not seems a ridiculous rundown spot in forty years. At the same time, it makes me nostalgic from the New York Public Library's Main Library, the British Musuem or even the futuristic Bobst Library at New York University, where I romanced my future wife. I have to run to the Louis/Dressner dinner at Le Pichet.
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