How weird is this? I hadn't seen any snow since the October shocker here in New York. And then last weekend I went to Seattle to visit friends. There, the city, accustomed to being sodden with winter drizzle, came to a virtual standstill with the accumulation of a mere two inches of snow. Over a two-day period, I saw only a couple of snow plows, both of them on major highways. Beyond that, it was up to the intrepid among us to negotiate the slushy and rutted hills that define the city by the bay. Jeff and I slipped and slid our way downtown on Saturday afternoon to check out some sights and were wowed by the Seattle Central Public Library building designed by the brilliant Rem Koolhaas (who has the awesomest name for an architect I could ever imagine). As for the breathtaking design, I'll let the accompanying pictures speak for themselves. But as for the function, let me say that Seattle has managed to redefine the metropolitan library as a place where people of all walks of life can seek both knowledge and refuge. Inside the soaring, light-filled space, we found the usual bookworms and students and tourists like us. But the frigid temperatures and snow clearly had motivated all kinds of nomads to come inside. Overflowing hikers' backpacks defined the Occupy Movement protestors; stuffed shopping bags and ragged overcoats defined the homeless; paint-spackled workclothes defined the day laborers, speaking mostly Spanish. They weren't just hanging around. They found seats at the hundreds of public computers -- provided for them, whether they had paid the taxes to build the municipal library or not. On the third floor -- or whatever floor it was you got to after taking two of the longest escalators I've ever seen -- there was a job resource center with a staffed help desk and hundreds more computers -- all of them in use. The library was as hushed and serious as any. But its colorful decor was a perfect backdrop for the diversity of its patrons, who seemed right at home taking shelter from the storm. Comments are closed.
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