Richard Tran

(Above: Reading Room of Boston Public Library )

“The design and ornamentation of the Boston Public library “generated a set of social rituals”, as Sally Promey notes, that served its “cultural definition as liminal space…in which transformation in the status of individuals was presumed to occur (Augst 153).”

Art and music enlighten and are expressions of underlying social values, Confucius argues in his Analects.  Considering that design and ornamentation of Boston Public library could rightfully be called art (thank McKim, Mead, and White for its construction)—the design and ornamentation of a library could reinforce “social rituals” in someone.  These “social rituals” could be expressions of the expectation that a library be revered, and that someone should enlighten themselves through reading, an activity intimately associated with the concept of a library.

The versatility of private libraries could be discussed through how they saved works that were lost during the Library of Alexandria decline, and how they made the works in them vulnerable to destruction during the reign of Shi Huangdi.

Private libraries saving literature that was destroyed during the Library of Alexandria’s decline shows that small libraries can save literature because of their decentralized nature.

Much of what comes down to us from antiquity survived because it was held in small private libraries tucked away in obscure backwaters of the ancient world, where it was more likely to escape the notice of zealots as well as princes (Battles 31).

Private libraries could protect literature from destruction since they could be in hard to reach or unexpected locations.  And even if a private library were destroyed, it’d be less likely that more works would be lost than if a great library were destroyed.

Shi Huangdi’s targeted crackdown on private libraries shows however that works in private libraries could be just as susceptible to destruction as works in great libraries. On page 37, Battles notes that the books burned in the fengshu kengru “…were likely those held by private scholars unwilling to submit to Qing authority over intellectual matters…”  Here, works being in a private collection was a liability, because the Qin sought to destroy them.  So, private libraries seized by Shi Huangdi’s forces would’ve been destroyed because their possession in a private library, while books in the Qin great libraries would’ve survived.

In Paul Goldberger’s 1973 architectural review of Bobst, he notes that its marble floor “is a copy of a black, white and gray trompe l’oeil pattern from Palladio’s 17‐century Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice”.  He agrees that the floor is a witty historical allusion, but adds that it’s out of place in Bobst.  “But the op art pattern doesn’t quite go with the rest of the room, and thus has the unfortunate effect of adding to the overall sense of busyness and over decoration.”  So, while I do sympathize with Mr. Goldberger, I believe that the floor goes fine with the room.  I’d even say it’s taken on a life of its own.

The floor has a life of its own because interpreting it doesn’t require its background. I didn’t see an allusion to a Venetian church Goldberger saw, but a potential allusion to Martin Gardener’s Penrose tile patterns that balances out the library’s atrium.  Now as I type this, I see trapezoids of three shades, a two-dimensional pattern, and the scales of a carp.

I’m confident someone will see different shapes and things than me—so I’d add that the floor reveals different interpretations, like books and text.  Considering the that the floor pattern can be interpreted in different ways, I’d say it emphasizes possibility.