Pico Union Branch Los Angeles Public Library
Los Angeles
M2A Milofsky Michali & Cox Architects LLP

A historicist design that would make Carnegie proud

© Tom Bonner Photography

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

Following the 1998 passage of a bond measure to renovate and construct new municipal library branches in Los Angeles, the city selected an architect to design the Pico Union Branch. But a nascent historic preservation movement in the neighborhood–an economically depressed part of Los Angeles that is now rapidly gentrifying–objected to this firm′s proposal for a contemporary–style building, which residents feared would set a negative precedent for future development. Accordingly, the library brought in M2A, a specialist in historicist work, which designed a branch that looks as though it dates to the heyday of Andrew Carnegie at the turn of the twentieth century.

At the new Pico Union Branch, the throwbacks to Carnegie begin outside the building with a short set of stairs that lead up to the main entry. Stairs, according to the Carnegie model, symbolize the elevation of person in the noble pursuit of self–education. Stepping inside the branch, patrons then enter a main room–whose dimensions are based on the average size of a Carnegie reading room–that contains the reference desk and book stacks. Alcoves to the sides of this central room provide intimate areas for study and reading; likewise, the children’s and teen rooms occupy their own separate alcoves. All alcoves feature views of two internal courtyards that are located against the building′s perimeter walls.

M2A developed a formal language of materials and finishes that echoes both the Carnegie model and the California vernacular common in the Edwardian era. The library′s main entrance façade features a triple arched cast stone entry porch with heavy decorative iron gates. Additional exterior touches include cast stone trim, eave brackets and frieze panels; clay tile roofs; and stepped brick accent details. Decorative iron medallions and grilles were designed based on Victorian as well as Central American Indian patterns.

Interior finishes include decorative iron signage, cast plaster ceiling grilles, coffered ceilings, dark–stained wood trim and bookcases, and stone counters. Individual colors on walls and coffered ceilings, offset by dark woods, create a visual key that helps patrons identify the function of individual spaces. The children’s room features a Story Book Victorian fireplace" designed especially for the space by local artist Mary Lynn Dominguez.

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Formal name of project:
Pico Union Branch Los Angeles Public Library

Location:
Los Angeles

Gross square footage:
12, 890 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$ 3.8 Million

Client:
City of Los Angeles – Los Angeles Public Library

Architect:
M2A Milofsky Michali & Cox Architects LLP
617 South Olive St., Suite 220
Los Angeles, CA 90014
213-833-0005 tel.
213-833-0045 fax
www.m2a-architects.com