[Publib] Bad Architect tales - LONG!

[Su Epstein]

In partial reply to Kevin's question and as many requested, here are the
tales that I received to my inquiry --  they are copied here to avoid the
attachment and all names have been removed to protect the innocent!
Su

PS - my personal favorite is the fireman's pole!

Su Epstein, Ph.D.
Library Director
Saxton B. Little Free Library
Columbia, CT 06237
==
1.  The children's story nook with baseboard radiators that get hot enough
to burn little fingers.
2.  A fireman's pole in the children's area.
3.  A sliding board from the children's second floor to its' first.
4.  The six foot tall shelving in the children's department.
5.  The soaring cathedral ceilings that look lovely and suck up the heat
from the floor where most staff and patrons work.
6.  Children's rooms with no sink or rest room.
7.  The adult magazine reading area placed so close to the front door that
in the winter no one is willing to sit there and be blasted by cold air
whenever anyone enters or leaves the building.  Then there is the south
facing, glass walled adult reading area that gets so hot in the summer the
air conditioning can't deal with it.
8.  The "state of the art" heating system that was so complicated no local
contractor could deal with its idiosyncrasies.
9.  The hardware on the rest room doors that was imported from Denmark and
extremely costly to replace.
10.  The glass enclosed gazebo meant to be a children's story area.  The
shape made the room difficult to use and the extensive use of glass caused
the room to be drafty.  
11.  The risers added to the children's area and meant to be used for story
seating.  They are used for climbing and jumping and have proven to be too
hard and high for story hours. 

Of all these, only numbers 2 and 3 were overruled by a librarian or building
committee.  The architect won in the other instances.  Of course the
architect gets to go home and library staff are left to deal with the issues
caused by bad ideas.
===
Poor orientation of the building on the site.  Twice a year the circ desk is
hit with blinding sunlight as the light pours through the two-story front
windows.  So bad that a large sun-blocking screen had to be added.
 
-For a 4 year old building, I don't think any "green" features were included
in the design.
 
-Handicapped parking is too far from the building.  
===
>  YES, just because an architect has worked on a lot of libraries and has
>   built up a reputation for that doesn't mean that they design 
>   FUNCTIONAL facilities.  
 
Exactly, It's not a question who the architect is, it's how functional. For
example take my library (please! yeah, yeah, it's Friday), it was designed
by a very famous architect, yet it really has no business being a library.
>From day one (literately) the librarians commented about how this space was
not going to work as a library.  Yet people come in and say something like
"Ooohh, this building is a ****, isn't it wonderful?" my response usually is
to just smile, and leave it alone. If any of them had to actually work in
here they would be singing a different tune. The poor design of the library
has led to many 'challenges', and hazards for the staff and it's patrons.  
====
I just had to write you about my experience as a Library worker at ------.
In 1994 they had a beautiful new building designed and of course a gorgeous
glass enclosed library.  They had beautiful cherry wood veneer book shelves
installed.  The only problem was that within one week of the books being on
the shelves, all the shelves began to warp.  Not a word of a lie, the
architect's idea to deal with this was to put the heavy books on the bottom
shelves - (now why didn't we think of that - we could develop a whole new
cataloguing system)  Luckily we were able to convince them that we needed
sturdier shelves.  Of course 2 years after being there we were in need of a
bigger library - which was impossible because of the way the building was
designed.  
====
While not disagreeing that libraries designed by architects can be less than
functional, libraries designed primarily by librarians can be less than
functional as well.  I once substituted in a library designed by primarily
by a team of librarians.  The light level was so low that we kept
flashlights at the reference desk--and I'm not kidding! 

I think it's important for librarians and architects and designers to work
very closely together, including visiting (or at least looking at a lot of
pictures) libraries that you think work well and, perhaps more important,
those that you DON'T like.  Librarians don't speak the same language as
architects.  (For example, the word "program" means something completely
different to each profession.)  

A great library building results from a clear and well-articulated building
program, developed by librarians (and perhaps with input from customers and
others in the community), realized and, generally, improved by architects
and designers who are attentive and creative.  Each profession brings a lot
to the table.  But this doesn't work without partnership and collaboration.
I think it's important to visit or view some libraries designed by the
architect AND to talk with the architects about their style--how do they
work with clients.
===
YES, just because an architect has worked on a lot of libraries and has
built up a reputation for that doesn't mean that they design FUNCTIONAL
facilities.  We've had a lot of new libraries go up in this area over the
past five years or so and I've visited many of them.  Each and every time
the librarians would show me one (or more) problem that resulted from an
unfortunate decision that had been made.  Often times the librarians would
say "we asked them to do it such-and-such way but...".  

At one library there were these beautiful built-in furniture pieces
installed right over the electrical sockets.  In order to unplug or plug
something in you have to crawl on the floor and reach up below the back of
the piece.  Even then it isn't always possible to reach the socket.  Sight
lines are also something that is often ignored by architects because they
can't understand their importance.  I also worked at one library where the
desks were extremely short so they were VERY uncomfortable to sit at,
especially when you were on the desk for an 8 hour shift.  On top of that
the desk drawers (in the same desk) only came out half way so you couldn't
really use them for storing.

I think it's an excellent decision to go and visit the other libraries that
the architects have done.  In particular ask them if there were any things
they would have done differently...  I suspect that most people aren't going
to want to say anything negative about their architects.  I think that most
library architects work very hard creating a beautiful and functional space
but sometimes perhaps the Form part does get ahead of the Function part.
 ===
Thought I'd share some comments - and - it's not just the architects, also
include the interior designers  They have these creative ideas that don't
work well in a public space.   We've been in our building 4 years and
architecture/design issues continue to crop up!  Here's a few of the big
ones.
 
-Grid patterned carpet in all public areas with RAISED squares as part of
the grid.  It's a horrible trip hazard, as well as creating a ton of noise
when the book carts are rolled over it.  We hate it.
 
-A 'grand staircase' up the center of the building that acts as a giant
funnel to move all of the downstairs noise (circ desk, public areas, etc.)
up to the quiet areas upstairs.
 
-A huge granite circ desk that now does not allow for re-configuration, as
the needs of the circ staff have changed.
 
-A totally enclosed teen room - not a good idea to give them so much
privacy!
 
And don't get me started on the uncomfortable, but stylish chairs that can't
handle the wear & tear from the public.
===
About thirty years ago I was hired as a school librarian in a small but
rapidly expanding town in Iowa.  The school was in the middle of a building
project which included a new high school library on two floors (bad idea
from a supervisory aspect).  The upper floor made a pretty u-shaped balcony
with a flight of stairs up the base of the u.  The architect's plan had
study carrels all along the inner part of the u-with no modesty panels,
because "it will ruin the esthetics of the building".  The school board
president jumped on that plan, saying that it was just asking for boys to
sit down below to stare up girls' skirts (remember the mini?).  The
architect said, "Oh, no boy would do that!"  The board president replied,
"No red-blooded American boy WOULDN"T do that.  No panels, no pay."

The board did go along with his white tabletops and sofa over my objections,
which of course were just writing surfaces waiting for student inspiration.

We also ended up the hallway between the school admin office and the rest of
the school, with the bulk of our collection along that wall.  We had many
books "walk" off and end up tucked into obscure parts of the school, like
behind the tanks of the toilets, etc.
===
In a Virginia library just over ten years ago the City Manager and the
Purchasing Director jointly worked with the architects. I was written out of
the loop and couldn't get back into it because I was a "Division Head" not a
"Department Head." Don't ask why the Purchasing Director had so much "say
so." His son was getting his MLS. Apparently that made Dad an expert.
 
The Purchasing Director wanted a nice wide stair case. He'd seen one
someplace else and fell in love with it. We at least wanted storage under
the semi-circular, extra-wide staircase. That was denied as impractical
because it would have needed a door with air vents in case someone got
locked inside. (I have no idea why that kind of door was going to be a
problem.) But we wasted almost 50% of the space "added" by this small
addition. The staircase was wide enough for southern belles in hoop skirts
to descend two-by-two, each with a male escort because women might not be
able to negotiate stairs safely. 
 
The staircase was descending from a mezzanine level. [Another asinine idea
for wasting space.] The rail along the mezzanine and the side "walls" of the
staircase were navy blue rods that had cross bars every two feet. These rods
were one & one-half ft. three ft. and four & one-half ft. above and parallel
to the floor. It looked like a jungle-gym and was used by kids as a jungle
gym. They would dash over to the mezzanine, climb the "barrier" peer-over
and shout, "Look at me, Mom." We had to purchase shelving to place against
the jungle-gym so the architects visual loveliness was hidden. 
 
The reference desks were moved to the former magazine area so we completely
lost any real area for magazines. The ADA bathrooms were large-enough that
no one would ever be able to say we'd skimped on space. the entrance and
bathrooms eliminated all the former space for our microfilm cabinets and
microfilm readers. After a 3/4 million dollar project we increased the size
of the bathrooms and increased the area available to genealogy. We lost
patron and staff space to that staircase and lost our entire magazine area
because something had to go when the staircase space was added. The
genealogy area was increased because the City Manager was a genealogist.
===
Well, here at our headquarters branch, the architects have hard walls that
flare out like a trumpet's bell at the top of the stairs from Circ to the
main floor which amplifies every single street noise.  And since the lovely
hardwood beamed ceiling reflects the sound, that's a lot.  The Circ lobby
has single-pane glass doors streetside and to our parking lot.  Also, the
staff rest rooms are about 100 yards from everybody but the Outreach Dept.
It would probably be well not to mention our name...
 
I have one I heard from a retiree once that I can't verify, but don't doubt.
He was on his library's board and when the new plans came out got a copy and
left them in their staff room for comment.  A page (!) noticed that the
layout of walls and shelving around the staff elevator in the new building
would make it impossible for pages to unload carts from the elevator.  
===
Twenty-five (or so) years ago, the town of ----- hired a "specialist
architect" to design the new town library.  He put all the lighting in the
8' ceiling running from east to west.  Immediately below the lighting the 7'
shelving was installed.  You guessed it--though the tops of the shelves were
well-lit, the aisles, spines, and spine labels were in deep shadow.  If the
shelving had been rotated 90 degrees, there would have been no possibility
for supervision, besides making access to the aisles more difficult for
staff.  Or, we could have moved the shelving so that each aisle was centered
upon a light--at the cost of 25% of the shelving.  We lived with it. 
===
We had such a "pro" at a library I was at a couple of years ago. He forgot 
to design any place for a librarian to be in the library. There was just the

circulation desk with one station.

He didn't measure the place, relying on someone else's measurement. We had 
to cut shelves in half to make them fit.

And he designed electric sockets to fit behind built in desk drawers.