Adjacent to City Hall is the Library. One of the most unique features of the building is its organization and circulation flow. The front facade would naturally be on Manchester Boulevard, the main street. Luckman fliped it to the Plaza side and then placed the cars and service below the building. This forces everyone to go through the Plaza and proceed upwards to the second level. There are other features emblematic of International Style Buildings of the era. Each elevation is different reflecting the building's orientation. Circulation elements (stair and ramp) are visually expressed and are bumped out of the facade plane. The functional elements such as the Lecture Hall are treated as separate buildings. The building is also made of poured-in-place reinforced concrete, a technique that requires precise wooden molds to be made. It was the material of choice for many significant public buildings of the era, most notably Boston City Hall. It was very innovative at the time allowing the architect to create very sculptural facades with a tremendous amount of precision. It is not used as widely today, probably because of the expense and level of craftsmanship required. Using it for the Library allowed Tom Van Sant to create The Written Word very successfully incorporating an artwork into the elevations.
