Designed by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus, the downtown public was finished in 2004. Upon its completion there was a lot of talk about how much of a masterpiece it was considered in the architectural community. I also saw pictures of the exterior, and was extremely doubtful.
But once you get inside, the library is as much of an architectural playground as you will find in a functional building. Upon using the revolving door entrance on 4th Avenue, you stumble upon the strange device that whisks the returned books along the ceiling to some unknown portion of the library. You can also see the medium sized lecture hall, that can be opened at the rear to allow for large public gatherings.
One cavernous escalator ride later, and you're in the 5th Avenue Lobby, with it's enormous atrium space, cafe and shop. Next you can ride an elevator to the media floor (where the sea of computers awaits), or the elevator to one of the many other floors. The media floor is useful, but doesn't hold as much interest to me as the oddity of the other areas.
The stacks are my second favorite part of the library. Rather than have floor after floor of shelves, the designers made a parking garage style spiral. Essentially the stacks start above the media level and spiral up to the upper lounge/special collection. There is a series of escalators and stair cases located in the center of the spiral. What I enjoy about the spiral is how disorienting it can be to wander through. The interaction between the spiral, the stairs, and the escalators is complicated to say the least.
The special collection/lounge floor is a pretty interesting space and has some decent views. It's a good place to relax and read a book. I would recommend the elevators for getting down, as they are most interesting at the top public floor. The doors and wall of the elevator shaft are glass, allowing you to see all the inner workings, and around the corner of the elevator is a small birds nest that gives you a dizzying view of the entire atrium space.
My favorite part of the library, however, is the meeting room floor. While this floor isn't very useful for the average visitor, it is a really interesting floor to walk around. Walls, ceiling and floor are bright red. If you enter this floor from the elevators, you feel like you've entered a science-fiction film.
