San Diego Central Library

The rebirth of downtown San Diego is a remarkable success story.  When I was at Cal Poly, I had a great Urban Design studio where we studied in depth, the San Diego/Tijuana double metropolis, the second largest aggregation of people on the entire west coast of the Americas.  At the time, downtown San Diego was a virtual ghost town full of derelict old (empty) buildings, sailors and ‘working girls’.

WOW.  It is almost too much to believe what it has become.  Beginning with the imaginative Horton Plaza shopping center that made people feel safe about coming downtown; to the gem of the Gas Lamp with its shops, restaurants and night spots that has attracted significant numbers of housing units; to Petco Park and the Convention Center; and now, finally, a great new library to replace an inadequate 1954 building.

Libraries have become a building type in transition.  No longer just a repository of books, they function as the heart of a community, providing access to all kinds of information, places of public gathering, public art, and a social center.  The new San Diego Central Library, designed by San Diego architect Rob Wellington Quigley FAIA, does all this and more, especially after seventeen years in the making.  I felt it to be a very grand building done in a very un-grand, quirky, casual way that seems entirely appropriate for the casual San Diego lifestyle and is a block from Petco Park.  During my recent visit, I happened to see Rob leading a group on the ninth floor roof terrace to enjoy the expansive views of the bay.  This was an important idea as a publicly-accessible building, for the public to enjoy the view.  In fact, much of the program came from public input.  A spectacular domed reading room, set on the top of the building, continues to blend traditional grand themes of civic architecture without being pompous.  The non-dome dome, composed of multiple ‘pedals’ of curves, is visible from quite a distance, marking the building on the skyline.

Set within the building is the E3 Civic High School (a public charter school occupying two floors, the first school in American to be located inside of a library), a rare books library, and an exhibit & meeting space.  The lease payments from the school helped make the project economically viable.  The colorful Childrens’ Library, on the main floor, was done with the cooperation of the Theodor Seuess Geisel family (Dr. Seuess was a resident of San Diego).  On the ground level, an inviting plaza with comfortable seating is set between the library lobby and a public auditorium, both of which have movable glass walls so the plaza space would seamlessly blend indoors with outdoors to become a significant gathering space.

The lobby itself feels comfortably rooted in local feel, color and texture.  The grand scale of the space, where upper floor column loads are transferred onto huge arches, is reminiscent of the Cabrillo Bridge from the 1915 Panama Exposition at Balboa Park.  Escalators ascend through this vast space that reminded me of a Piranesi painting or something by M.C. Escher.

With more than 800,000 visitors per year, the new library is becoming one of the icons of this vibrant city.  It’s many interesting facets, particularly its quirkiness, make it seem to some that it has always been there.