Harold Washington Library

Harold Washington Library Center
General information
Architectural style	New ClassicalPostmodernism
Address	400 S. State Street
Town or city	Chicago,Illinois
Country	United States
Coordinates	41°52′35″N87°37′41″W
Completed	October 7, 1991
Client	Chicago Public Library
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Hammond, Beeby and Babka

TheHarold Washington Library Centeris the central library for theChicago Public LibrarySystem. It is located just south of theLoop 'L',at 400 S.State StreetinChicago,in theU.S. stateofIllinois.It is a full-service library and isADAcompliant. As with all libraries in the Chicago Public Library system, it has freeWi-Fiinternet service. Opened in 1991, it functionally replaced (after more than a decade) the city's19th-century central library.The building contains approximately 756,000 sq ft (70,200 m²) of work space.The total square footage is approximately 972,000 sq ft (90,300 m²) including the rooftop winter-garden event space.It is named in honor of MayorHarold Washington.

History

The Library's Winter Garden on the 9th floor

With the conversion of Chicago's former central library into theChicago Cultural Centerin 1977, a long-term temporary central library was opened in the Mandel Building at 425 North Michigan Avenueand much of the library's collection was put into storage. A debate on a new central library ensued and continued throughout most of the 1980s, frustrated by a lack of funding. Upon his election in 1983, MayorHarold Washingtonsupported the construction of a new central library. After the turmoil of four mayoral administrations in a seven-year period, finally, in 1986 during Washington's tenure, the city and the Library Board picked a location and floated a $175 million bond issue to provide funds for the new building, as well as the entire citywide library branch system.In 1987, a design competition was held by the city to decide on the architecture of the library. Five prominent entries were chosen from design-build coalitions of architects and contractors, representing designs by VOA Associates in collaboration withArthur Erickson;Hammond, Beeby & Babka;Murphy/Jahn,Lohan Associates, andSOM.The entries were narrowed down to two finalists: The Chicago Library Team with Helmut Jahn's glassy, modern design, and the SEBUS coalition, whosepostmoderndesign byHammond, Beeby and Babkatook elements from nearby historic buildings. Notably, Jahn's design was to have arched over Van Buren Street onto the area that is now occupied by Pritzker Park, incorporating a new elevated station on Chicago'sLoop.These elements were deemed too expensive, along with the rest of Jahn's design, so the Hammond, Beeby and Babka design won the competition. The architectural models that the entrant teams created are located on the eighth floor of the Harold Washington Library Center, except the SEBUS entry, which is located in the ninth floor Special Collections.

With the support of Harold Washington and Chicago's wealthyPritzker family,ground was broken at the chosen site at Congress Parkway and State Street, covering an entire block. Upon the building's completion in 1991, the new mayor,Richard M. Daley,named the building in honor of the now-deceased former mayor Harold Washington, an advocate of reading and education among Chicagoans as well as an advocate of the library's construction. Before 1872, Chicago had mainly private libraries. England responded to theGreat Chicago Fire of 1871by donating over 8,000 books to the city, which became the foundation of the first public library. This collection was housed in a variety of locations, until the Central Library was built in 1891.The Harold Washington Library opened on October 7, 1991. Since completion, the library has appeared in theGuinness Book of Recordsas the largest public library building in the world. In 2013 the architect and chairman of Hammond, Beeby and Babka,Thomas H. Beeby,won the prestigiousDriehaus Architecture Prizefor this and other projects.

Architecture

Owl on the southwest corner of the building

Exterior

The exterior evokes the design of theRookery,Auditoriumand theMonadnockbuildings. The bottom portion is made of large granite blocks. Red brick makes up the majority of the exterior. These two portions draw on theBeaux-Artstyle.

Thepedimentsand most of the west side facing Plymouth Court are glass, steel and aluminum with ornamentation hearkening to theManneriststyle.

In 1993, the roof was ornamented with seven large, painted aluminumacroteriadesigned byKent Bloomerwith owl figures by Raymond Kaskey.The acroterium on the State Street side depicts anowl,a symbol of knowledge due to its association with the Greek goddessAthena.The acroteria on the Congress Parkway (now Ida. B. Wells Drive) and on the Van Buren sides contain seed pods, which represent the natural bounty of theMidwest.The acroteria angularia each contain an owl perched in foliage.

On the divide between the granite blocks and the brick portions are wall medallions that have the face ofCeresand ears of corn.

On the north, east and south sides of the build are five story tall arched windows. Between the windows are rope friezes.

Interior

All public doors lead to thelobby.The north public entrance on Van Buren is just east of theCTA'sHarold Washington Library–State/Van Burenstation, served by theBrown,Orange,PinkandPurple Lines.The corridor goes east, then south, then west, and opens south to the lobby.

Lobby

The east and south public entrances open directly to the lobby. The west public entrance opens to the offices. The west corridor goes east then south to open at the lobby.

• The lower level houses the CindyPritzkerAuditorium, Multi-Purpose Room and Exhibit Hall.
• The central lobby is two stories tall and includes both the circulation and information desks. On the east side, the Popular Library is housed and on the West side there is a YouMedia space for teens.
• The second floor houses the Thomas Hughes Children’s library.
• The third floor includes computers for public use, periodicals, and interlibrary loan and general information services departments along with alibrary makerspace.The Maker Lab includes multiple3D printers,CNC machines and Laser Cutters. Use of these machines is available for a nominal fee.
• The fourth floor holds the business, general sciences, and technology items.
• The fifth floor holds government publications, Chicago municipal references, maps, and an assistive resources and talking bookcenter for the blind, visually impaired and physically disabled.
• The sixth floor holds social sciences and history resources.
• The seventh floor holds literature and language resources as well as a work by acclaimedPolishsculptorJerzy Kenar.
• The eighth floor holds visual and performing arts resources, music practice rooms, and audio/visual rooms.
• The ninth floor holds the Winter Garden, which may serve as a reading room or be rented for social functions. Also on this floor are exhibit halls, Special Collections, and the Harold Washington Archives and Collections.
• The tenth floor is not open to the public. It houses library offices and technical services.

See also

• Chicago architecture
• Chicago Public Library
• Events in the Life of Harold Washington (mural)
• List of museums and cultural institutions in Chicago
• Harold Washington Library–State/Van Buren station

References

Notes

External links

• Harold Washington Library webpage
• Chicago Public Library system homepage