Ironically, the sloping floors that have been such a consuming interest for Rem Koolhaas showing up in his unbuilt design for the Jussieu University Library in Paris and in his folded paper at the Seattle interviews will be largely hidden behind opaque walls in the Seattle library. Flat floors necessarily imposed a logic on a collection, a logic that doesn t necessarily exist, according to OMA s Joshua Ramus, who has taken pains to explain the concept to the client and the public. This disruption is a monumental problem in the design of libraries. Once collections grow beyond their space allotment, they must be broken up and isolated on separate floors. As for books versus technology, the library and the designers are committed to the assumption that books are here to stay, and the library has plans to substantially increase its collections.
Technology is the wild card.
No one knows the effect that technology is going to have, said Robert Zimmer, design director for LMN Architects, OMA s partner in the design of the library. More than any other element, the new library is designed for people. But don t look for a monument, or a trophy or a postcard view. Seattle s new library is an honest expression of change, action and mutability in other words, function.