The New York Public Library
by Victoria Kim
The façade of the New York Public Library can be observed from the Fifth Avenue, and the grandeur of this building’s portico immediately seizes the attention of a spectator. The frontal structure of this edifice is not flat; the main entrance is projected toward pedestrians on the street, while the wings of this edifice remain pocketed at the back. Thus, this protruding center part of the building becomes the most predominant feature that endows a specific character to the building: the portico emits a welcoming atmosphere. Since the entrance is projected toward the public, this structure appears as though it is reaching out to civilians. Interestingly enough, the stairway placed in front of this portico leads us to ascend the steps in order to enter into the building. This sense of elevation creates the impression of entering into a higher, majestic, and supreme place.
Three barrel vaults stand side by side to form the portico of the library, once again emphasizing the symmetry of the structure. Not two or four, but three; the juxtaposition of three barrel vaults creates the presence of middle arch, which is balanced by two other barrel vaults that stand on both sides of this center vault. This sense of symmetry parallels the façade as a whole, as the portico placed in the center is balanced by the extension of the wings. The equal number of Corinthian columns extend along the both wings to create colonnades, closed by two pediments at both ends. The sense of harmony, balance, and stability emerge from this perfectly symmetrical arrangement of different architectural elements. The balustrade also maintains consistency, equally stretching toward both right and left directions of the library terrace to enhance the sensation of poise and consonance. This railing reveals the repetition of vertical supporting columns that create perpendicular contrast with the coextending horizontal bars. The entwinement of horizontal and vertical characteristics of this protective barrier once again elevates the quality of "balance" that can be found in numerous Greco-Roman architectures. This recurring of classical elements may reflect the society’s admiration for classical antiquity that provided the basic foundation for the shaping of philosophy, literature, and knowledge in Western societies.
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Perhaps, marcher and parti are two inseparable terms, as "the experience in space and time," (Van Zanten 104) provides with a chance to acquire better understanding of a building’s structures and designs, allowing a viewer to determine the possible "concept of the nature of a specific building" (96). Likewise, the experience of marcher inside the New York Public Library gradually reveals its parti - the building’s purpose, its meaning, and its nature.
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Astor Hall greets the visitors who enter the library from the Fifth Avenue entrance. This entire chamber is made out of a monochromic material: the ivory marble stone, which is reminiscent of the Vermont white marble that covers the façade of the edifice. Also, the arcade that surrounds this chamber is the resonator of the portico’s three arches that leads a spectator into Astor Hall. This series of arches is supported by several piers, which are framed by the Doric columns - again, echoing the features of classicism that are shown on the exterior. In such a way, this main entrance plays the role of connecting the exterior of the building with the interior of the library. This transition from an outside world into the interior of the library displays a gradation in its evolving process.
Two sets of stairs - the North Stairs and the South Stairs - bring the visitors up to the third floor of the library. With the ascending of each step, the decorative coffers of the arch ceiling become bigger and more elaborate, with the growing complexity and splendor of the rosettes that fill the core of each coffer. This metamorphosis of coffers and rosettes into more sophisticated forms allows a foretaste of what is coming next. And then, turning at the corner of the second floor finally inflames the mounting curiosity and anticipation, because the arch at the top of the North Stairway provides a glimpse of the magnificent third floor ceiling.
Of course, the colorful third floor ceiling catches a viewer’s immediate attention upon his or her entrance into the Third Floor Landing Hall. Presumably, this painting is portraying one of the Greek mythologies: the story about Prometheus, who stole fire from Zeus to give to humans. If the fire in this mythological painting represents knowledge, the value of knowledge becomes higher in this context: knowledge as a gift from the god Prometheus. Once a viewer becomes slightly more accustomed to the overwhelming ceiling of the third floor hall, he or she might notice the transition from stone to wood as a primary material; yet, because the ornamental beauty of the classicism is still channeled though the carvings of the furniture and on the walls, this change is not an abrupt disturbance that disconnects the flow of transitions. Moving through this barrel vault, wooden antechamber leads a spectator to the Main Reading Room, the climactic and the most important location of the library. The Main Reading Room proudly exerts its splendor through the combination of diverse materials - ranging from marble, wood, and bronze - that adorn and complete the fine details of the chamber. The arched windows, marble walls, bronze rosettes and coffers, and even wooden delivery desk walls with a touch of Greco-Roman classicism reiterate and summarize everything a viewer has seen so far while on his way up to this Main Reading Room, adding to the powerful climactic sensation.
Upon hitting the zenith of the building - the third floor - a viewer is once again forced to think about parti of the structure, as the experience of marcher is about to end. Inevitably, the New York Public Library provides the powerful visual transformation through the movement of space and time, which is very rich and aesthetically satisfying. In other words, visual encounters are pursued and emphasized in this library; the experience of “seeing” is almost as important as “reading” in this architecture. Although this building is classified as a library, the major reading room with numerous volumes of books is present only on the third floor. Astor Hall intrigues the observers to admire at its harmonious, elegant and balanced design, but books are absent on the first floor. Instead, the Gottesman Exhibition Hall replaces the place for books, once again accentuating the value of visual encounters over the importance of reading; after all, the primary purpose of visiting exhibition halls and museums is to observe and see. Additionally, the constant recurring of symmetry and balance, as well as minutely detailed ornaments work their ways through to amplify the visual communication between a viewer and the architecture. Thus, one might think that the New York Public Library cherishes the beauty of visual experiences in human life - after all, reading involves seeing, and a reader is able to illustrate visual images in his or her imagination by reading printed words. This emphasis on visual encounters reveals the entwinement between seeing and reading, the indivisible relationship between these two activities.
The New York Library, despite its vast scale, is endowed with a peculiar impression of flatness because of its location amongst the tall skyscrapers that pierce the sky of New York City; this flatness of the architecture appears to share closer ties with a horizontal line - it extends toward both sides of the building, instead of mounting tall like other buildings that surround this particular edifice. This horizontal organization of the library creates the feeling of firm stability, the quality of which vertical and diagonal lines may never retain. This sort of solidness may represent the permanence and the strength of knowledge. Once inside, the library also shows the progression toward knowledge, as the stairways guide visitors to the third floor. The simple fact that the books are placed on the third floor instead of on ground level is rather significant; the ascending steps whisper to the visitors that genuine knowledge is something that must be pursued by each individual, rather than as an entity that could be handed over by someone else. When an observer reaches the third floor that holds the collections of books, the sky paintings up on ceilings create an impression of a celestial city, thus elevating the status of knowledge into a heavenly realm.
Further, all the exhibition halls, pictures, paintings, and sculptures work together to form the parti of the New York Public Library, that desires to function as both a library and a museum. These decorations not only please the visitors to the library, but also fulfill the purpose of highlighting the importance of visual experiences
- the encounter with materialized expression of ideas through sculptures and images - that can lead to better understandings of literature and printed wisdoms.
Of course, the colorful third floor ceiling catches a viewer’s immediate attention upon his or her entrance into the Third Floor Landing Hall. Presumably, this painting is portraying one of the Greek mythologies: the story about Prometheus, who stole fire from Zeus to give to humans. If the fire in this mythological painting represents knowledge, the value of knowledge becomes higher in this context: knowledge as a gift from the god Prometheus. Once a viewer becomes slightly more accustomed to the overwhelming ceiling of the third floor hall, he or she might notice the transition from stone to wood as a primary material; yet, because the ornamental beauty of the classicism is still channeled though the carvings of the furniture and on the walls, this change is not an abrupt disturbance that disconnects the flow of transitions. Moving through this barrel vault, wooden antechamber leads a spectator to the Main Reading Room, the climactic and the most important location of the library. The Main Reading Room proudly exerts its splendor through the combination of diverse materials - ranging from marble, wood, and bronze - that adorn and complete the fine details of the chamber. The arched windows, marble walls, bronze rosettes and coffers, and even wooden delivery desk walls with a touch of Greco-Roman classicism reiterate and summarize everything a viewer has seen so far while on his way up to this Main Reading Room, adding to the powerful climactic sensation.
Upon hitting the zenith of the building - the third floor - a viewer is once again forced to think about parti of the structure, as the experience of marcher is about to end. Inevitably, the New York Public Library provides the powerful visual transformation through the movement of space and time, which is very rich and aesthetically satisfying. In other words, visual encounters are pursued and emphasized in this library; the experience of “seeing” is almost as important as “reading” in this architecture. Although this building is classified as a library, the major reading room with numerous volumes of books is present only on the third floor. Astor Hall intrigues the observers to admire at its harmonious, elegant and balanced design, but books are absent on the first floor. Instead, the Gottesman Exhibition Hall replaces the place for books, once again accentuating the value of visual encounters over the importance of reading; after all, the primary purpose of visiting exhibition halls and museums is to observe and see. Additionally, the constant recurring of symmetry and balance, as well as minutely detailed ornaments work their ways through to amplify the visual communication between a viewer and the architecture. Thus, one might think that the New York Public Library cherishes the beauty of visual experiences in human life - after all, reading involves seeing, and a reader is able to illustrate visual images in his or her imagination by reading printed words. This emphasis on visual encounters reveals the entwinement between seeing and reading, the indivisible relationship between these two activities.
The New York Library, despite its vast scale, is endowed with a peculiar impression of flatness because of its location amongst the tall skyscrapers that pierce the sky of New York City; this flatness of the architecture appears to share closer ties with a horizontal line - it extends toward both sides of the building, instead of mounting tall like other buildings that surround this particular edifice. This horizontal organization of the library creates the feeling of firm stability, the quality of which vertical and diagonal lines may never retain. This sort of solidness may represent the permanence and the strength of knowledge. Once inside, the library also shows the progression toward knowledge, as the stairways guide visitors to the third floor. The simple fact that the books are placed on the third floor instead of on ground level is rather significant; the ascending steps whisper to the visitors that genuine knowledge is something that must be pursued by each individual, rather than as an entity that could be handed over by someone else. When an observer reaches the third floor that holds the collections of books, the sky paintings up on ceilings create an impression of a celestial city, thus elevating the status of knowledge into a heavenly realm.
Further, all the exhibition halls, pictures, paintings, and sculptures work together to form the parti of the New York Public Library, that desires to function as both a library and a museum. These decorations not only please the visitors to the library, but also fulfill the purpose of highlighting the importance of visual experiences
- the encounter with materialized expression of ideas through sculptures and images - that can lead to better understandings of literature and printed wisdoms.
very nicely written! Great post.
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