the seattle library

... is, by far, the coolest public building that I've been in. Follow this link for some amazing pictures.

It's shaped like a random mesh of glass cage from the outside, which is almost expected of these "modern", big-profile buildings. What is surprising is that the inside is every bit as quirky. The bookshelves are slightly scattered across the floor, and some are transparent. The floor tiles *do not* match, and seem randomly placed. And everywhere, the sunlight shines through the glass cage, creating dancing shadows across the floor.

The conference floor is the creepiest. It is completely red -- even the ceilings and the floors -- and dimly lit. Traversing through its hallways is walking down the memory lane of your mother's womb.

Then there's the computers floor, which is completely silver -- even the floor tiles are metalic. Perfect for mass electrocution.

Above that lie about 5 stories of what's called The Spiral, where all the books are. The floors are linked together like a parking structure -- you can actually get from the lowest to the highest floor without touching stairs or the elevator. This means that the floors are tilted. Completely bizarre.

The Reading Room is at the top level, where the beautiful sun casts playful shadows everywhere. It's really gorgeous.

Too bad the parking situation is ridiculous. We paid $5 parking fees for being in the library for an hour. But still. It's hard to find a more charming building of such large scale.