Seattle Public Library

The third Verb monograph examines the Seattle Public Library, one of OMA's most heavily anticipated projects in the US. First, we look at the project in terms of the role of new media technologies that have changed the status of the library in the contemporary city. In Seattle, the city's library begins with a radical rethinking of the very nature of the library, conceived as an "information store" rather than a traditional repository for books. Second, we explore the relation of the project to a well-known history of investigations by OMA into the library/mediatheque typology, which includes the TGB, Jussieu, and ZKM projects. As in previous Verb monographs, this third installment provides a comprehensive account of a project's design process that tracks its development from the initial concept, through construction, ending with the building's inauguration.