Bush Library aiming for LEED Platinum certification

[simms3_redux]

Is there a Presidential Library thread? (similar to the museum threads and other threads about one particular type of building). Candidly I've only been to the Carter Center, which is now in the midst of a serious renovation/reconfiguration.

I like the Clinton library, too...remember when it was being built.

Here's another view:


Source

While Stern is actually one of my favorite architects and I collect books on his works (he does neo-traditional in grand scale better than most if not all in this age), I *do not* like this library (boring).

[LMich]

I was thinking I was the only one who thought this was bland. It looks so...generic, and the massing and symmetry's all off. These kind of buildings are a dime-a-dozen on college campuses.

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by texcolo

It's a pretty conservative building, but the SMU campus is mainly Neo-Georgian. You have to make it blend in a bit.

I like the Clinton Library better.

[]http://www.donparrish.com/ClintonLibraryWeb/ClintonLibraryEndView.jpg[/IMG]http://www.donparrish.com

From memory I can say that I find Clinton's library the only one that really deserves acclaim from all of the Presidential Libraries.

[jetsetter]

Architecturally speaking I much prefer the simplified and timeless classicism of the Bush library to the trendy modernism of the Clinton library. I feel the Bush library will age much better.

[vandelay]

Here's a construction timelapse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlTdnyMmEh8

I think it's a fine library. Definitely not Robert A.M. Stern's finest work, but definitely one of the better presidential libraries. It sits well, if not harmoniously, with the landscape.

I'd love to see an Art Deco presidential library. Obama take note.

[jtk1519]

I think from in many ways the landscaping was always supposed to be where the true inspiration and uniqueness was developed. It not only fits the personality of the man whose name is on the building, but SMU's campus is very harmonious from an architectural standpoint and so SMU president Gerald Meyer was quite adamant that the library maintain the same "architectural character" as the rest of the university. So if the library looks a lot like a building on a college campus, well it is and that's by design. I think Meyer was afraid of a situation like in Austin where you have the brutalist LBJ library sitting on a campus built (largely) in a Spanish Renaissance style.

Those restriction from the university tied the hands of the building's architects and what they could design, but the landscape architects were uninhibited and came up with something that is an attraction in and of itself. And in the end, I think that was the point.

[JohnMarko]

Originally Posted by rds989

This is a beatiful building and a great addition to the SMU campus. From what I've read of the programming, this is going to be a really active center.

Also, the snide commenters above can bugger off. Ignorant.

I'd be ashamed to be associated with the WAR CRIMINAL Building...

[photoLith]

What a boring building, his library should have just been a big hole in the ground. Bush is like the ultimate hipster now, environmentally friendly grounds and a "green" LEED building when his entire presidency was about profiting from oil and weakening the EPA.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by LMich

I was thinking I was the only one who thought this was bland. It looks so...generic, and the massing and symmetry's all off. These kind of buildings are a dime-a-dozen on college campuses.

I was just thinking the same thing. It sort of reminds me of those monster sized Texas high schools that consolidate an area's school district.

It's pretty forgettable as far as architecture goes. Maybe that was the point.

[MolsonExport]

It will go over like a LEED Zeppelin.

[Capsule F]

Why is this library in the suburbs?

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by Capsule F

Why is this library in the suburbs?

Libraries can't serve suburbs?

[easy as pie]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

It sort of reminds me of those monster sized Texas high schools that consolidate an area's school district.

nailed it.

[mhays]

LEED concentrates on what you're building, but doesn't put enough emphasis on avoiding sprawl, or encouraging transit use. LEED Platinum takes some effort but it doesn't mean a green project overall.