I got to see Chris Hadfield speak this evening in the theatre. It is a great space, and the windows right out onto 3rd street are pretty cool from the theatre:
I would have posted a couple of more photos, except for two things. 1. Surrealplaces is a better photographer and already has it covered, and 2, the one potential negative for this building (and technically, not the building itself, just the opening day festivities).....
Hadfield spoke until about 7:50 or so. By the time we got out of the theatre, we went to go explore the library (didn't want to stand in the long line to meet him). We get up one flight of stairs and were told by security that the library was closing at 8:00, so we couldn't go any further. We just got to the atrium, that is about it. I am not complaining (too much), given that it is a public building and I can easily go back for free at a later date. But still, seems like an odd thing to do on the opening night when there were so many people there.
Must have been cool to listen to Hadfield speak. I'm going to try and get down there this weekend to check it out. From the photos I've seen so far, it looks great.
Damn the photo's look amazing. I've been looking forward to this project since it was announced. Sadly I've moved back across the country so I'll have to wait until my next visit out west to go check it out.
its a beauty, never paid much attention to the cladding, which was debated here and inside i didnt feel like they skimped on windows, also a talking point.
Nice photos! The new library is definitely a spectacular addition to our city. My only concern so far is the 'bobbing birds' public art piece. On opening morning all three birds were in motion. By the afternoon of Nov 1 it was down to two, by Friday it was down to one and yesterday when I went past none of the three birds were in motion. I hope it's not an indicator of the build quality as the last thing the city needs is another story about a public art failure. Seems sad the art pieces couldn't even get through the opening weekend without apparently breaking down though.
When I was there Thursday (opening day), my nephew saw the eastern one which was moving and thought it was so cool, then when we were on the top floor he was looking down on the west side at the other two and asked me "are those ones broken?" ... so the western two weren't working past like 3pm Thursday. That's rough.
Took a long lunch to tour it on opening day, and gosh it's a wonderful building. Was in Halifax not too long ago, and their new main library is also great in some different ways (cafe and rooftop patio in particular), but this is really great. Excited to see it on a regular day without the crush of the opening crowd.