Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System - Central Library

Central Library

The Central Library, completed in 1980, was the last building to be designed by Bauhaus-movement architect Marcel Breuer. The building, designed in the brutalist architectural style, is considered a masterpiece by architectural experts, such as Barry Bergdoll, the Chief Architectural Curator of the Museum of Modern Art, and is closely related to the Whitney Museum of Art building. Breuer was unable to attend the dedication ceremonies on May 25, 1980, and he died a year later on July 1, 1981 at the age of 81.

The concept for the design dates back to 1970, but the contract was not awarded to Breuer until 1976 because of disputes between the library administration and city government over the bond referendum needed to raise the $18.9 million for construction of the library. Construction began in 1977, and when the structure was completed in 1980 it featured a 300-seat theater, six stories of library space, and a restaurant. The building was built for a capacity of 1,000 users and 1 million volumes. The structures consists of a steel frame and concrete slabs, and the exterior is composed of precast concrete panels bush-hammered for texture. Concrete was chosen as the material because concrete allowed for the most economical implementation of the special shapes required for the recessed windows and splayed reveals. The second, third, and fourth stories are connected by a monumental concrete staircase.

Since 1980, however, the state-of-the-art facilities have deteriorated. The theater was closed during the mid-1990s after water from a leaking concrete planter above the theater collapsed parts of the ceiling, but has since been renovated due to recent interest in the building. Although the restaurant was busy and successful during the early years it was closed during the late 1990s. Furthermore, the brutalist architectural style of the library is not fully appreciated in Atlanta. In an effort to mute the harshness of the style, the system spent $5 million to renovate the building in 2002. The money was spent on a new carpet with colorful highlights and more colorful walls. A full renovation would have cost an estimated $34 million. Nonetheless, it still remains unclear as to what will happen to the Breuer building. In the Fall of 2009, the library was listed on the 2010 World Monuments Watch List of Most Endangered Sites.