Arabian Public Library

Arabian Public Library

Scottsdale, Arizona

Begun: 2003

Completed: 2007

Richard and Bauer Architecture

Norie Sato

Modern

33.627474865333745, -111.86283634256061

steel (alloy), glass (material), cotton (textile), wood (plant material), medium-density fiberboard, granite (rock)

The structure covers 20,875-square-feet

Public

This structure is unorthodox in its shape. Viewed from its top-down, it is made up of two “L” shapes that are situated opposite one another and forming a square in between them. This stands importantly as it queues us to the fact that the roof integrates the building into a grander geographical context. It brings us to a conceptual understanding of the library being a part of the desert itself, instead of being a structure placed in the desert. This becomes more articulated and evident as the visitor approaches the entrance. It comes in at 21,202 square feet and houses several different rooms and levels including, a 120,000-volume library collection, as well as a coffee bar and a number of bookstore elements. There’s seemingly a multitude of entrances and exits for the structure, highlighted by a huge opening where visitors can head in several different directions with the courtyard created in that square opening formed by the L’s. You enter along the parking lot which appears as this shaded grove that is defined as this slot of space, located between these steel-clad facades. Again these facades become an ode to the structures regional backdrop. We see this in materiality and the colors used with them. The irregular slanted construction mixed with this dirt or wood color helps out with the structure's goals of becoming one with its mountain and terrain area. Ultimately, the structure leads toward the inside of the structure, which is designed in a way where one enters into the cavernous interior, highlighted by visual continuity and program areas broken up by folds in the walls, varied ceiling heights, and internal clerestories that display similar to crevasses of glass, once again connecting the building and the outside. As you make your way to the main room, it is a hollow, cave-like, and elongated reading space and lounge with tilted walls, wrapped in that light brown colored wood paneling and illuminated with these large, adjustable hanging lamps. In addition to this, the visitor can get a full view of the Sonoran desert in this space. With this, light and shadow seem to move similarly here to standard structures. Obviously, the central courtyard would be received differently from the rest of the structure. Outside of this, it appears light and shadow move normally.

https://www.rkarch.com/projects/arabian-public-library#content"

Julian Forster

José Bernardi, "Arabian Public Library", [Scottsdale, Arizona], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/AZ-01-013-0004.

https://www.rkarch.com/projects/arabian-public-library#content

This link "https://www.rkarch.com/projects/arabian-public-library#content"

is where I got all my images from, haven't gone over how to cite these sources yet