Pittsburgh Public Library Branch

Location: Northside neighborhood, Pittsburgh, PA

3rd year studio (spring 2012): 14 weeks

The Northside neighborhood has seen better days; abandoned buildings, vacant lots & rampant vandalism are all blights on this once thriving neighborhood. The community is undertaking initiatives to revitalize underutilized properties & otherwise improve the area but lacks a meeting space to help enable this work, which becomes an important consideration in the design of this library branch. It must go beyond housing & checking out books to empower community members to enact the change they want to see.

Architecturally, bringing daylight into all the spaces of this deep building posed a challenge. That need drove the placement of the large atria, which also sought to visually connect the different levels of the project. Meeting spaces were located within the atria, making them the center of attention & attempting to maximize their impact both socially & architecturally. The large structural x's support the long spans & cantilevers, while also giving visual weight to the daylight & community involvement providing atria.