The AIA and the American Library Association (ALA) will present 2001
Library Buildings Awards to eight diverse projects that exemplify excellent design. The jury, composed of three AIA members and three ALA members (see box), found three common threads in the designs submitted this year. The winning designs:
• Fit the needs of the communities they serve
• Respond honestly to their context, natural and man-made
• Create a strong sense of place.

The winning projects for 2001 are:

Denver Public Library, Denver, by Michael Graves & Associates, with Klipp Colussy Jenks DuBois Architects (see Project of the Week, above).

Dimond Library, University of New Hampshire, Durham, by Graham Gund Architects, creates light-filled spaces for student use through additions on two sides of its existing building. The jury commented, "A great solution to a common problem: a harsh, 1960s library has been expanded and softened with the addition of large reading areas on the outer edge of the building."

Friend Memorial Library, Brooklin, Maine, by Elliott & Elliott Architecture, replaces a structurally unsound addition and doubles as a meeting facility, courtesy of its low, caster-mounted stacks that roll away into adjacent alcoves. "The library is built like a beautiful boat, recalling Maine's northeastern tradition for craftsmanship and frugality," the jury said.

Multnomah County Central Library, Portland Ore., by Fletcher Farr Ayotte, in association with Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, has a new addition and a redesign that brings more room and a logical organization to the entire facility. As the jury explains, "An upper floor addition expands staff space without changing the building's historic perspective from the street and enhanced opportunities to reimagine the spaces on the floors below."

North Mason Timberland Library, Belfair, Wash., by Carlson Architects, sports an exposed timber frame that reflects the town's origins as a logging and milling center. "Like other projects selected for this year's award, this is contextual, fitting the site well in its forms and use of materials," the jury reports. " It is indigenous and inventive, artful in its use of materials, an exuberant celebration of wood in the Pacific Northwest."

Rhys Carpenter Library, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa., by Helfand Myerberg Guggenheimer, a two-story, sunken expansion to a 1904 Gothic library, was termed by the jury "a major addition has been accomplished without any significant loss of campus green space."

Robertson Branch Library, Los Angeles, by Steven Ehrlich Architects, is the 10,000-square-foot proud owner of a huge, deep-blue light well that gives the building its streetscape identity and siphons natural light deep into its interior. It solves the problem of a difficult, constrained site by pulling the parking underneath the building, elevating the library and creating a beacon on a street full of distractions," says the jury.

Woodstock Branch Library, Portland, Ore., by Thomas Hacker & Associates Architect Inc., offers a simple and direct plan on a busy commercial city corner. In addition to its contribution to the urban landscape, the jury found of its interior design: "The light-filled reading room is artfully detailed."

Copyright 2001 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.