A dungeon, a prison, a bunker—locals had many nicknames for Philip Johnson’s landmarked 1972 addition to the central branch of the Boston Public Library (BPL), none of them flattering. (Johnson himself called it “a fortress without windows,” which seems less outrageous when you realize that it was surrounded by vacant lots and rundown properties when it was constructed.) Last year, Boston-based William Rawn Associates completed a sweeping $78 million, 156,000-square-foot renovation that improves its connection to the branch’s renowned 1895 Renaissance Revival building by McKim, Mead & White and, perhaps more critically, opens up the imposing granite building to Copley Square for the very first time.
BPL spent a year soliciting input on the project from the local community and its millions of patrons, and formed an advisory committee that transformed their feedback into key principles for the city-funded effort. (Topping the list: fun.) William Rawn was then selected via an interview process, and the architects continued to reach out to key constituents as the design progressed. “Given the library’s central location, the outreach effort was necessarily broad and inclusive all along,” says Rawn, whose firm had designed two other branches for the BPL.
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