NYPL Unveils Renovation Plans by Foster + Partners

The New York Public Library has finally released architect Norman Foster's schematic design for transforming the 101-year-old Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan, four years after selecting the Pritzker Prize-winning architect for the controversial project. As the diagram at left illustrates, the Central Library Plan will move the non-circulating books from their original stacks under the Rose Reading Room to storage beneath Bryant Park, opening up a large area for a new circulating library space on the west side of the building.

Books and other materials for the newly designed space would be moved from the Mid-Manhattan Library catercorner to the Schwarzman Building and the Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL), designed by Charles Gwathmey. The NYPL asserts that the Mid-Manhattan branch is "heavily used but seriously deteriorating," yet the SIBL is less than 20 years old.

See this issue's Film for more on Foster's design and the critical reception it has received since its unveiling in December.