St. Louis Central Library / Fukuoka Public Library

When I travel, I always start by finding the tallest building in town, and going right to the top with a map to orient myself.  On a recent trip to Japan, I the tallest vantage was to be had in the Fukuoka Tower.  I looked out and saw this,

There was an interesting building there,

I went back down to the steet level and walked along the pedestrian mall towards it.  Looking back, I saw the tower.

The building turned out to be the public library,

Those strange wing-like things on the buildings edges reminded me a bit of open books. 

A loosely open book reveals individual pages.  The public art gives a sense of huge pages sticking up from the hedges.  These pages make something of a zig-zag pattern when you look at them.  In fact, the public plaza out in front seemed to have many zig-zagged planters inviting people to sit in the little nooks they formed.

Inside the library, there were many more zig-zag created nooks to be found,

Most of these nooks had people reading and sleeping.  I tried to only photograph the empty ones out of politeness.

Though these pictures all seem pretty empty, the Fukuoka Public Library was actually very full of life.  There were quite a few people.  There was a computer room, several reading rooms, an inner courtyard, an open periodicals lounge, art-deco doors, a huge foyer, and all the other things you'd expect to find in a public library.

It was very new, and perhaps a bit small.  The shiny new wood furnishings don't quite compare with the historic elements in the St. Louis Central Library of my homeland.

There is a striking difference though.  The library in Fukuoka was very open to foot traffic in front.  It had a lovely plaza with public art. 

The St. Louis Central Library, though incredible inside, is a bit of a remote island on the outside.

The historic architecture is certainly inviting, but these three people must jaywalk to get there.

Fukuoka's pedestrian mall is quite short.  It just connects the library and museum to the tower. 

This pedestrian mall crosses only one road, and it isn't scary at all.  In St. Louis, many many roads must be crossed.

The St. Louis Central Library occupies an interesting part of the Gateway Mall.  Under the Gateway Mall Master Plan, the mall is broken into 'rooms.'  The Library's room is quite nice looking in the picture above, but the size of the streets intimidates me.  These green islands in a sea of concrete are not well connected at all.  What can be done?  Sink all the roads and put bridges over them?  Just close them off to cars? 

There seems to be plenty of room for a plaza in front of the library.

South Grand has researched a test run for pedestrian bulb-outs and reduced lanes.  The results are good.  Grab some big flowerpots and concrete medians, drop em in front of the library, and measure traffic flow.  Is there a big difference?  It would be a start.

Here's a fun video for people interested in knowing more about the St. Louis Central Library.

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This post relates to the St. Louis Gateway Mall