![]() The marble panels filter the sunlight so that damaging ultraviolet rays are blocked out, preserving Yale’s rare books. This effect is reversed at night, when the building shines from within. While the exterior of the Beinecke Library might seem cold or stark, the interior glows in an amber-colored light during the day. The heavy box is counterbalanced by the negative space of a sunken courtyard in front of the building, where Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi created a sculpture garden. The recessed ground-floor level, where the entrance is located, is encased in a glass wall, and adds to the floating character of the large marble structure. The library is five encased marble elements high, ten deep, and fifteen wide. These frames hold one-and-a-quarter-inch-thick, octagonal-almost square-marble panels in between them. The Vierendeel frames are clad in Vermont Woodbury granite, white with gray veins, which showcases the structural composition of the building. The Beinecke library is constructed of Vierendeel trusses, which are elevated and supported by four steel corner columns sheathed in concrete and shaped like truncated pyramids. Construction began in 1960 and the library was completed three years later. Apart from the change in building material, the architect made only minor changes from the first scheme to the final design. An extensive search for a quarry that could provide a sufficient number of onyx sheets proved difficult and the architect settled on Danby marble from Vermont. Initially, Bunshaft wanted to use a tan-colored onyx for the windowless facade. Bunshaft and the Beinecke brothers had both collaborated with the Fuller Construction Company, and this connection helped the architect in securing the Yale commission. He explained his view to the university’s provost, who then assured him that the Yale Building Committee would select a candidate directly. However, Bunshaft argued that a competition would not deliver the optimal outcome for the client’s needs. Paul Rudolph, chairman of the Yale School of Architecture, proposed a limited competition between a few chosen architects, one of them being Gordon Bunshaft. (Walter Beinecke had passed away earlier, and his wife acted on his behalf.) ![]() Whitney Griswold secured funding for a new facility dedicated to rare books from Edwin J., Frederick W., and Walter Beinecke, three brothers who had attended Yale. University librarian James Babb and President A. In addition, by the late 1950s, shelving space was scarce. ![]() Scholars could consult materials in the Rare Book Room, which lacked air conditioning and humidity control-inadequate conditions for preserving books. Prior to the Beinecke’s construction, Yale’s valuable tomes were stored at Sterling Memorial Library. ![]() Bunshaft himself considered the Beinecke Library central to his legacy: “It’s the only building I’ve been involved in that has an emotional impact.” The building, which many observers have described as a jewel box, stands on the Hewitt Quadrangle next to Woodbridge Hall, Yale’s presidential office. The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, designed by Pritzker Prize laureate Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, houses Yale University’s collection of precious manuscripts, historical ephemera, and rare books, including a Gutenberg Bible. ![]()
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