Located between Madison and 5th Avenue, the Seattle Public Library is pretty easy to distinguish. The building on its own is an interesting piece of architecture and worth going all the way around to get a good view from every corner (I think there are more than 4). But the fun starts once you get inside. It’s not like it’s a huge building, but I always felt like I was inside some Alice in Wonderland type of ride. I guess it depends on your imagination. For the record I have the imagination of a 4-year-old.
Highest Viewpoint
When you enter through 5th Avenue, you find yourself in a wide area with some book shelves and couches, where you can read, play chess, Go, etc., and see the building’s architecture from the inside. Then, if you take the green escalators in the center, you can go to other magical places in the library. I suggest going directly to the top (10th) floor to have a nice view of the people inside, reading and moving around. Once there, you can check the directory and choose which floor to go to next.
Green Escalators
My other pick, besides the green escalator (I could spend the whole day there) is on the 4th floor and it’s called the Red Hall. It’s some corridors, all in red, that give access to the meeting rooms and toilets. My interpretation of it is like I’m a blood cell inside blood vessels carrying the oxygen all around the body (like in Il était une fois… La vie). Try to do your own interpretation.
Red Hall
I would just say, go and explore. It’s a library so there will be other interesting stuff to look around for. Again, it’s not a very big place, but it’s worth checking out while in downtown.
The Seattle Public Library
1000 Fourth Ave.
Seattle, WA 98104-1109, USA
Phone: +1 (206) 386-4636
Website: http://www.spl.org
Related links:
Wikipedia – Seattle Public Library
View Atlas Parasite in a larger map
