Seattle’s Central Library by OMA

Seattle Public Library’s Central Library, from 5th Avenue and Spring Street

I remember the first time I saw this building. I was with my parents, visiting my dad when he was working in the Seattle area. It must have been the late 2000s or early 2010s. We were driving through the city, my nose glued to the window as I often do as a passenger. When we drove past the structure, I was in disbelief at first. It looked like a glitch in the matrix. My parents were fairly oblivious to the situation which made it feel all the more surreal, as if I was hallucinating. And then it was gone. I had felt as if I had been shown this absurd reality and would have to internalize it forever. It wouldn’t be for a few more years before I saw photos of it. A friend from Portland posted something about that library being their favorite building on the West Coast. That’s when I learned it was a library, and that I could even go in!

Fun fact, while everyone who knows of OMA knows Rem Koolhaas is responsible for this design, there was another now-famous architect who helped in the development of the library, one Bjarke Ingels! As it turns out, Ingels worked with OMA from 1998 to 2001.

Top floor reading room of the Central Library

I’d been to Seattle a few times after, but I would often forget about the library. Not this time though - I was visiting one of my best friends, and she knew I would want to visit. We spent an afternoon there exploring the building. I wish I had brought a wide angle lens but I unfortunately did not, so alas these photos are the only photos I have. Yet, I’m still most excited to share them. I like that they reflect that fleeting experience I first had with this building.

Central Library cantilevered over Spring Street, Seattle WA

I visited the Library this January, back when the pandemic was just a measly epidemic. And looking back at these photos, I’m struck by its scale. When the lockdown is over, I think a lot of us are going to be looking at our built environment with fresh eyes. We’ll be reintroducing ourselves to the monuments and behemoths that we had grown accustomed to. I hope we share the buildings that we fall back in love with, and the disastrous aspects of the built environment that ruin our days. Mainly, I hope it feels like when this tiny puppy meets a great dane.

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