 |
This library is at the other end of the Strip in Las Vegas, on a site, according to Predock, "where the original presence of water became a catalyst for the development of Las Vegas; it's where an adobe building, the old Mormon fort was. It's where the confluence of the Spanish trail, the Mormon trail, the Native American trails happened." Predock says, "the building for me was about the land, and about crossroads and not about fetishising the Strip" (Interview with Geoffrey Baker, October 1993/March 1997). In the Google map the red sandstone diagonal running down toward the left corner delineates a kind of processional way into the entrance. Originally there was a grid of palm trees that led to the entrance; now large roughly cut stones provide a linear focus. The color scheme is provided by the desert with sandstone and concrete as the main materials. The library sits on a hill with an impressive view of the surrounding area. This complex actually serves as a library and a museum with the latter to the left and the library directly behind the entrance and to the right.Administrative areas are defined by red sandstone walls. In the interview cited above Predock also talks about the choice of colors of the exterior. He says "the red-sandstone colour comes from Calico Canyon, the canyon in the Spring Mountains that you see as a backdrop to the building in the distance. It was, however, the white-hot, desert-sand colour for me that was the matrix with which the building started. The stucco colours are bleached, desiccated like the sand colour of Las Vegas"(Interview with Geoffrey Baker, October 1993/March 1997). |
|
|
The conical building in the entrance courtyard is the Birthday Room, which Predock says is shaped like a birthday hat. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Details of the Birthday Room and the 112 foot Science Tower | ||
|
|
|
Center and right: the Museum | ||
|
|
|
For other works by Predock on this site, see also Dell Butcher Hall, Rice University and the Tacoma Art Museum.
Click here to return to index of art historical sites.
Click here to return to index of artists and architects.
Click here to return to chronological index.
Click here to see the home page of Bluffton College.
