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Page 1 of 2 A new campus library looks to the future while embodying Fresno's Native American and agricultural heritage.
Native American History in Tomorrow's Library: Henry Madden Library at
California State University, Fresno, by AC Martin Partners in
association with RMJM Hillier
Original Article at ArchNewsNow.com
The $105 million renovation and addition to the Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno, will honor the long legacy of one of the region’s Native American tribes while incorporating the latest technology and innovative library design solutions. With an elliptical entry tower whose wooden lattice and zinc sunscreen recall the tribe’s woven baskets, as well as other details representing Native American culture, the 370,000-square-foot library will be the largest in the 23-campus California State University system when completed in 2008.
Designed to be the “library of the future” – the Henry Madden Library will stand as a beacon of light in California’s Central Valley, housing the largest collection of volumes of any California State University. (Shimahara Illustration)
The design grew out of an unusual collaboration involving AC Martin Partners in association with RMJM Hillier (formerly Hillier Architecture); Michael Gorman, Dean of Library Services for Fresno State; and the Table Mountain Rancheria, a federally recognized American Indian tribe comprising members of the Mono-Chukchansi tribe. Seeking to expand the crowded, obsolete Madden Library built in the 1950s and 1960s, Fresno State selected the two design firms in 2004 for what was planned as a $95 million project. Early on, the architects took advantage of the narrow site to create a long north-facing façade that brings in natural light with extensive glazing. Seeking to break up the building’s length with distinctive forms to help with wayfinding, the team developed an elliptical tower resembling a basket to mark the main entry. “I had been to the Native American collection at the Sierra Mono Museum in North Fork,” says David Martin, FAIA, design principal and co-chairman of AC Martin Partners, “and so I was aware of the importance of the region’s Native American basket-weaving traditions. We were also thinking of the symbolic resonance of the basket as a container of knowledge.”
Native Americans have been weaving organic materials for centuries, following tribal guidelines of form and function. By translating the construction of the native basket (considered to be a vessel for knowledge) into steel and wood, sculptural forms of architecture are achieved. (AC Martin Partners)
Intrigued by the possibility of expanding on the Native American themes, officials at Fresno State showed early drawings of the building to the Table Mountain Rancheria, which operates Table Mountain Casino in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Fresno County, and which has a history of providing charitable contributions to education, healthcare, and other community causes. The tribe donated $10 million – the largest cash gift in the history of the university – to fund the integration of Native American-inspired elements into the Madden Library’s architecture and furnishings.
The tribe places a strong emphasis on preserving its cultural legacy, seeking out and buying back the highly sophisticated baskets woven by its members as long ago as the 1800s. The design team met with elders of the tribe and studied its significant collection of baskets for inspiration. The four-story elliptical tower at the main entrance demonstrates the woven patterns of baskets with three layers: an angled wood lattice, a zinc sunscreen, and a glass curtain wall. The tower anchors a metal staircase with steps that incorporate a woven pattern.
Large translucent spaces harvest natural light without exposing sensitive books and manuscripts to its harmful effects. (RMJM Hillier)Large translucent spaces harvest natural light without exposing sensitive books and manuscripts to its harmful effects. (RMJM Hillier)
With the tribe’s permission, the designers also drew on graphic patterns found on the baskets, representing them abstractly in custom fabrics used in the building’s furniture. A documentary by Susan Narduli demonstrating the tribe’s process of weaving baskets (a process that can often take a year or more) will be digitally projected on the elevator walls along the grand staircase, visible from both inside and outside the new building. Other elements commemorate Fresno’s long-standing agricultural heritage, with precast concrete imprinted with abstract patterns representing aerial views of the local fields. Materials for the building also include White Oak wood and Sierra granite, reflecting materials found throughout Central California and the Sierra Nevada.
Re-thinking the idea of the “traditional” library, the open spaces and light-filled reading rooms will be more user-friendly than its predecessors. (RMJM Hillier)
To the west of the new library, the Peace Garden features monuments to Martin Luther King, Jr., César Chávez, Mahatma Gandhi, and Jane Addams. Landscaping in the Peace Garden and elsewhere on the library grounds includes native plants, trees, and grasses, many of which are the same varieties that the Table Mountain tribe uses to weave baskets. The names of the plants are inscribed in granite benches surrounding the garden.
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