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Renderings: Central Atlanta Library’s proposed redesign

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Preservationists don’t want to see the exterior of Marcel Breuer’s work tampered with

Preservationists don’t want to see the exterior of Marcel Breuer’s work tampered with.
The proposed look for one facade, with greater transparency.
Renderings: Cooper Carry

Some downtown residents and patrons of the Atlanta Central Library are up in arms after seeing design plans for the facility’s $50-million overhaul.

On April 12, at a meeting in the basement auditorium of the decades-old Brutalist building designed by famed architect Marcel Breuer, neighbors of the library raised issues with plans they feel were whipped up without satisfactory community input.

Among the qualms people have with renderings, the biggest problem seems to be architect Cooper Carry’s idea to cut windows into the face of the 38-year-old building (as seen above).

Architects maintain the changes are needed to shed natural light on the interior.

Below, have a gander at images of the proposed library overhaul, now available in technicolor:

A rendering of the redesigned ground floor of the library shows better, more artisitic lighting and a bright white coat of paint.
A rendering of the redesigned ground floor of the library.
Cooper Carry
A blueprint of the basement floor of the redesigned library. Renderings: Cooper Carry
A blueprint of the ground floor of the redesigned library.

Last week, some residents complained about the lease space slated for the development, claiming it could be better used for library services.

A blueprint of the redesigned 2nd floor of the building.
A rendering of the redesigned 2nd floor of the library.
A blueprint of the 3rd floor of the redesigned library.

One confused library neighbor on Thursday wondered why the 3rd floor will be the only story in the library designated to book storage.

A blueprint of the redesigned 4th floor of the library.
A blueprint of the redesigned 5th floor.
A rendering of the 5th floor’s “flex meeting space”
A blueprint of the redesigned 6th floor
A rendering of the redesigned 7th floor.
A blueprint of the 8th floor in the redesigned library