Photo Tour

The building’s façade is comprised of glass windows and steels panels that Kahn referred to as “opaque windows.” These are flush with one another, yet separated by a reveal.

Unfiltered light streams into the four-storey Entrance Court, reminding visitors of the time, the season, and the weather outside. Elsewhere light is filtered in order to minimize exposure to works of art on view. Natural light and natural materials are prominent features of the building.

The Library Court, on the second floor, is so named because it is surrounded by the Center’s Reference Library, its Rare Books and Manuscripts department, and its Study Room where works on paper can be seen and studied.

Following in the tradition of British country houses, full-length portraits hang on the upper tier of the Library Court. Openings into the courtyard afford views of the fourth-floor galleries.

In the Study Room on the second floor, students, scholars, and members of the general public can view prints, drawings, rare books and manuscripts that are housed in Solander boxes in white oak cabinets. Study carrels near the windows allow objects to be viewed in natural light.

As sunlight hits the white oak paneling, the wood takes on a warm glow.

The permanent collection is displayed in fourth-floor galleries, whereas special exhibitions are shown on the second and third floors. “Pogo” panels, covered in natural linen, and strips of travertine on the floor, delineate the geometric grid of 20 x 20 foot bays that comprise the building.

Comfortable furnishings in colors that complement the natural materials of the interior were selected by interior designer Benjamin Baldwin for the public galleries.

The steel hand rail forms a square within the circular concrete stairwell. The ceiling of the stairwell is formed of glass bricks set in a concrete frame.

Wooden shutters line the windows of the Center. Viewed from the exterior, the window sizes reflect the functions of the spaces behind. Clerestory windows belong to library spaces where light must be kept to a minimum; two-thirds-height windows indicate office areas; whereas full-height windows are located in the public galleries.