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Architecture & Engineering


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February 10, 2003

Safdie-designed library opened

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Internationally known architect Moshe Safdie had only one goal for his second library, which opened here Saturday: "My ambition was for it to be the best library in the world."

Whether he succeeded won't be determined until the six-story glass triangle is used, appreciated, critiqued and compared. But the library -- with a curving, climbable wall, reflecting pools, an amphitheater, private children's playrooms and storefronts surrounded by grassy slopes -- already has captivated Salt Lake.

The 225,000-square-foot structure Safdie designed was built to simulate the hubbub of a downtown city center, and incorporates shops and cafes at ground level to encourage pedestrian flow. A coffee bar, environmental store, film center and graphic novels and comics store will all do business on an outdoor terrace, which will also house a studio for public radio station KCPW.

Situated steps from the city's light-rail tracks and next to the former library, the new facility will hold 500,000 books and materials, and triple the number of computers. There will be foreign language books, an extensive CD collection, and magazines and newspapers from around the world.




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