One on the Exeter Library, America

I could not be writing this in a better time and place. Less than an hour back, I was being ‘politely’ escorted out by the security at the assembly building in Dhaka; my curiosity had got the better of me as I walked past practically all security barriers (almost) to the heart of this magnificent piece of architecture by Louis Kahn. Overwhelmed with the man, having just experienced one of his finest works, I have finally settled myself down on my flight back to write specifically on the Exeter library in America.

Louis Kahn and institutions are synonymous. The scale and spatiality achieved through the basic principles and tools of Kahn are what make an institute institutional. Here is the explanation.

An educational campus, more specifically a library, needs to oblige at two levels. One at the physical and the other psychological. Exeter goes beyond this, as it transcends these expectations to raise the bar on architecture and its role. First, one has to programmatically house books; secure this fairly delicate tangible medium of paper and equipment in a built environment. It has to manage the program of individual isolation and collective reading, display of books and journals and organize the overall operations of a very public function. Architecturally, it has to make sure the proportion of light and view is balanced. Comfort and concentration both need to be addressed. Natural light, controlled and apt, makes a place usable. Views need to be strategized so as to make the space introverted, but not claustrophobic. They could be a tease, where one acknowledges the larger context, but not let it affect the internal primal objective. This balance of light and dark, shade and sun, publicity and privacy bring in a beautiful play in space making.

Second, the more profound and fundamental, is to give an image to the campus by inspiring its users. The experience of a library at the personal level and its image as an icon at the mass level both, are large architectural challenges. A sequence of unfolding spaces explain the story of the place- From the small docile entrance of the library, one enters the larger common volume through a large palatial travertine clad staircase; a sense of grandeur. The atrium is a clean volume in brick and concrete with a cross structure on top with controlled play of light. This evokes a sense of calm and peace, almost religious in nature as it houses the central control and large common reading bays. The smaller personal alcoves bring in the required scale of focus and concentration; light with almost no external views, access to books and visual in access to the rest of the library space.

The choice of material, the external thick brick skin insulates the building from the outer world like a hard shell. The fair faced concrete structure on the interiors forms a perfect backdrop to the play of light and shade; impressions of the sun movement through the day, bringing the required dynamism and drama. The use of these fundamental materials also evokes a certain permanence and timelessness to the building, an institute with a strong character manifested in its architecture.

One leaves the building satisfied, with a strong sensorial experience. A timeless expression towards a pure inspiration.

- Sourabh Gupta