DESIGN TREND: Seeing is Believing

Enclosed glass spaces allow insight into what’s going on at the library as well as offering a visual connection to the surrounding community, while moveable walls that literally open onto the outside go a step further.  

1. The Valente Branch of the Cambridge Public Library, MA, on track for LEED V4 Platinum certification, has a glazed facade that creates a crescent-shaped civic plaza. A large wood-clad canopy tempers the daylight. CREDITS:  William Rawn Associates, Arrowstreet Architecture and Design, architect; ©Robert Benson Photography, photo

2. Hosmer Library, Hennepin County, Minneapolis, MN, offers a stately upgrade to a Carnegie library with glass walled interior rooms featuring technology and active programming, and glass-bounded staircases. CREDITS: LEO A DALY, architect: Morgan Sheff, photo