It may seem to some that libraries are becoming redundant in an increasingly digitalized world where all information is accessible, centralized, analyzed as well as organized, and presented by AI technologies. However, the physical space and message a library gives are more important than ever before. Libraries bring back a lost physical space that cannot be replicated online, where a community truly comes together to study, learn, and research. Far Rockaway Library has been built as a bigger and more accessible library and aims to reflect the values and culture of its neighborhood. In Queens, NYC, Far Rockaway Library is located prominently at the busy intersection of Central and Mott Avenues. The library will anchor the expanding Far Rockaway community and help facilitate the City’s revitalization efforts in the Downtown area.

Image © Jeff Goldberg, Courtesy - Snøhetta.

Experiencing decades of disinvestment, the neighborhood will now attract visitors locally and from the surrounding area to travel to the new two-story library donning a unique glass façade and a central atrium pulling natural light from outside to deep into the building footprint, and providing a visual portal to the sky from the interior. Light continues to be a main feature within the library, as the colored glass facade balances transparency and translucency, and the dichroic glass on the interior railings bounces the light coming from the skylight and the building skin, creating a kaleidoscopic effect in the atrium.

Image © Jeff Goldberg, Courtesy - Snøhetta

The design driver for this playful atmosphere is explained by Snøhetta's founding partner, Craig Dykers. He states: “Our design for the Far Rockaway library is focused on connecting the diverse communities in the area through an architecture supporting joy and learning. The vibrant colors and daylit interiors are inspired by the many groups that call the area home,”.

To further allow the community to be involved in the final design, Snøhetta worked with Brooklyn-based contemporary artist José Parlá to design the mural wrapping the façade of the library. This artwork transforms the architecture into a form of sculptural painting. Created as ink-on paper, Snøhetta has transformed Parlá’s work as a digitized and supersized version of his written depiction of daily life in the city. Reflecting Far Rockaway’s diverse and dynamic character, the artwork is named “Style Writing”. Building immerses the viewer in its ephemeral and immersive qualities as each reflection from the glass façade tells fragmented snapshots of past life in the city, and the current, as occupants breathe life into libraries lobby.

Image © Jeff Goldberg, Courtesy - Snøhetta

Art is further carried into the building by incorporating a piece by Mexican artist Pablo Helguera called Feynman Code. Paying homage to the Nobel Prize-winner and theoretical physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988) who grew up in the neighborhood, Feynman is famous for creating the “Feynman diagrams”- pictorial representations of the mathematical expressions describing the behavior of subatomic particles. Helguera has interpreted these diagrams for the library, created an alphabet where every letter is replaced by a Feynman diagram, and reproduced two phrases using this coding system: one by the 19th Century American poet Emily Dickinson, “The mind is wider than the sky”, and one by Feynman himself: “I, a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe.”

Image © Jeff Goldberg, Courtesy - Snøhetta

Far Rockaway Library represents both a symbol and a resource for Queens. It builds upon the well-loved old library building, and provides for the dynamic needs of residents and to local community. Made possible by collaboration with visual artists, the new library aims to serve the neighborhood residents better than ever, and act as a catalyst to bring people together.

Image © Jeff Goldberg, Courtesy - Snøhetta

Project facts

Client: New York City Department of Design and Construction, Queens Public Library
Architect: Snøhetta
Artist Collaborator: José Parlá
Sustainability Consultant: Atelier Ten
Structural Engineer: Silman
MEP/FP+AV Engineer: Altieri
Civil Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Completion year: 2024 

Top image © Jeff Goldberg, Courtesy - Snøhetta.

All images © Jeff Goldberg

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