The Pratt Library is worth a visit if you're ever on campus. It's not like any interior structure I've seen before. Reading up on the history of the library, it makes me proud to know that Charles Pratt opened the school in 1887 enrolling "women and people of color, a revolutionary practice at the time" and it's library was the first free library in NYC.
The library was built by architect William B. Tubby in Victorian Renaissance revival style with interiors by the Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company. You can sense the history when you walk into the stacks in the left-most part of the library. It's beautiful but it freaks me out.
Why? Take a look at the floors. Yes, the Tiffany glass floors are interesting but don't let your eyes fool you. Those aren't magazines or something printed on the floor. Those are the books from the stacks below. That's a huge gap! The heel of the woman in the first picture is right at the edge of the walkway. Crazy! I always have to be extra careful when I walk around and to be sure not to drop anything below. I wonder how often people loose things through the gaps.
2 comments:
wow, that is really cool!!! i would definitely be holding onto everything a little more tightly tho! :)
ya seriously. it's already unnerving to walk on glass as it is!
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