Geisel Library, UC San Diego, 1970
1970
Pereira & Associates
Named in honor of Audrey Geisel and Theodor Seuss Geisel, otherwise known as “Dr. Seuss,” the Geisel Library at the University of California, San Diego campus is a futuristic design expressed with Brutalist, cast-in-place concrete. The building extends outward as it reaches up, in an upside-down pyramid supported with vertical columns and cantilevered beams. Exterior walls made of ribbons of glass windows let in reading light for library patrons and create even more of an extraterrestrial experience when the library is seen at night. The architect, William Pereira, began developing his distinctive style using heavy massing and minimal details in the 1950s when he partnered with Charles Luckman. By the 1960s, Pereira’s pioneering concrete designs gained him great recognition, and in 1965 he was awarded the commission to design the library at UCSD. Pereira continued to produce and influence revolutionary architecture throughout the 1970s.
Wayne Thom captured the newly constructed building in 1970 in black and white and color photography, emphasizing the building’s heavy concrete skeleton contrasted with the lightness of its windowed walls, and the library’s ability to look like a glowing, grounded spaceship at dusk. Thom’s photograph of the library with students gathered at the base emphasizes the behemoth size of the building compared to the human scale. The building seems ultramodern, and yet at the same time appears to rise from the earth with concrete columns outstretched like an ancient temple that has sat in that exact spot for thousands of years.
References:
Dario Goodwin, “Spotlight: William Pereira,” Arch Daily, April 25, 2017,
David Langdon, “AD Classics: Geisel Library / William L. Pereira & Associates,” Arch Daily, November 11, 2014,
Diana Mirel, “The House that Seuss Built: The Geisel Library at University of California, San Diego is an Impressive Architectural Gem,” Journal of Property Management, Vol. 78, No. 1 (Jan/Feb, 2013), 34-35