The long controversy presiding over Harold Washington Library has, today, much to do with personal taste and functionality. But, as Chicago Architecture Blog writer Wendy Bright recalls, the controversy began with the design/build competition. A lot of public input was invited in the late-80s but the pairing of architects with developers meant the best potential either went unaired or unheralded. We got a safe product and whatever your taste for the lavish exterior, the interior collects the real failures: illogical flow; an underwhelming lobby; a popular library akin to a "7-11"; and an overall "depressed industrial feeling" to it. Read on! [CAF, photo via CAF, Archicritics]
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