West Hollywood's new library returns to the California Mid-Century tradition with floor to ceiling glass windows providing plenty of natural light, and a walkable link to Santa Monica boulevard a new park signals a new civic focus.
Christopher Hawthorne notes of the views produced by the expanses of glass "say something meaningful about the ways in which Johnson Favaro's design for the library aspires to reflect the changing nature of the Southern California cityscape."
They are truly urban views, and "depend on an architectural vantage point rather than the automotive one for which Los Angeles is famous - on a building that is squeezed in near other buildings and has some height. They suggest a connection not just with the immediate architectural context of the park and the PDC - which looks almost close enough to touch from the library's third floor - but also with the larger city and metropolitan region."
Hawthorne warmly views the library as indicative of a hitherto privatized metropolis being forced to relearn the art of civic architecture and to reengage the public realm.
FULL STORY: West Hollywood Library Among Top Works
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research