Library Blogging - Suzzallo Library
Posted
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 11:08 AM
by
Joe Napalm
Located in Seattle, Washington, the Suzzallo and Allen Library dominates the University of Washington campus. From the UW Libraries website:
The Suzzallo Library, named after Henry Suzzallo, the fifteenth
president of the university, opened in 1926. The architects of Suzzallo
Library, Charles H. Bebb and Carl F. Gould Sr., had a vision of a
campus united by design and reflecting the age-old traditions of the
academy as personified by Oxford and Cambridge. Suzzallo Library was to
be their centerpiece. The library embodies collegiate gothic with its
soaring west facade and row of eleven 35 foot high stained glass
windows and terra-cotta and cast-stone figures. When planning began in
1922, Henry Suzzallo envisioned a library that was "the soul of the
university."
Besides the photograph of lovely architecture, I'm always interested in a library's special collection of rare books and manuscripts. Although I could not find detailed information on the collection, I'm sure the 375,000 photos, 22,000 architectural drawings and pre-1801 material that covers the history and life of the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Western Canada would be a contact high. Ah, look! I found it: [link]. Trippy.
Pictured below is the Reading Room. Of interesting note -- besides the insanely beautiful architecture -- is the cork floor. It keeps things quiet. Shhhh.
You can see a virtual architectural and historical tour here: [link].
Photo courtesy of commons.wikipedia.org [link]