Controversy on New Fine Arts Library at Cornell

A major renovation — funded by a $6 million donation from Mui Ho ’62 B.Arch ’66 — is planned for the Fine Arts Library in Rand Hall, according to the University. The architect is a Cornell alum, Vienna-based Wolfgang Tschapeller M.A. ’87. More on Tschapeller here.

“The FAL is absolutely essential to all students and scholars who work with visual material,” said Kent Kleinman, AAP dean. He foresees a luminescent, contemporary research center housing 250,000 volumes, ample digital resources, and generous study spaces. “It will be a light-filled, 21st century library, glowing from behind the large industrial windows of Rand Hall — a perfect metaphor for conserving the old while erecting the new,” said Kleinman.

There is currently no construction timeline or design for the construction, according to Kent Kleinman. However, he said he considers the renovation to be a “key academic priority” for the college.

“It is critical that Cornell keeps this world-class collection in a good environment,” said Ho. “These books are important for students in architecture, arts, history, and other disciplines on the Cornell campus. Most images found within this collection are not readily available on the internet, and students, researchers, and teachers need to use these books intensely.”

“The new FAL will be poised to compete with the very best art and architecture libraries in the world,” Kenney said. “Having a library that can bridge the physical/digital divide — offering cutting-edge services and deep research collections in tandem — will make the FAL one of the major jewels in the Cornell University Library crown and will serve to draw the best faculty and students to this amazing university on the hill.”

Students and architects had mixed opinions on the project, with current architecture students expressing both excitement and concern, acording the Cornell Daily Sun

"I have already criticized the decision to invest in a major library project “given the rapidly fading importance of physical books in academic life…” The newly unveiled scheme reinforces this judgement: it is extravagant beyond belief, removing virtually the entire third floor of Rand Hall" said Jonathan Ochshorn

And he adds "By destroying the structural integrity of the original building (i.e., by removing the third floor), a number of major steps must be taken to make the scheme viable: large transfer beams spanning from exterior wall to exterior wall must be added at the old roof line — these support the hanging stack levels — while the exterior columns must be reinforced so that they are able to resist buckling even with their effective length doubled. Diagonal bracing needs to be added to the new structural frames since floor slabs that previously provided necessary stability have been removed. In addition, the perimeter foundations of the building need to be reinforced to resist the added loads coming down from the transfer beams. Remember that most foundations are cast in place before a superstructure is built; clearly, it’s much harder to underpin an existing building. In fact, what was a perfectly viable 3-story industrial building, admirably capable of supporting pretty much anything that one wanted to place inside, has become a bespoke artifact that will become — when the library proves obsolete in the near future — unusable for anything else unless the whole thing is re-configured again at great expense. (Well, I suppose that with the interior stacks removed, the double-height space could be converted into a basketball court.)

"I propose a compromised design that celebrates the books as objects and gives room for empty spaces that allow for flexible use. The design should be less extravagant – still double storey, which allows for the storage of more books, but,still with floor space for extra multipurpose rooms." Said Bamoo Scaffolding, an architecture student.