Thumb Award NEW CHAPTER IN LIBRARY DESIGN

Thumbs Up to architect William Odum for the new Oak Lawn Branch of the Dallas Public Library. It took Odum seven years to get his innovative passive solar design past the bureaucrats at City Hall; in only a few weeks the completed building has become a neighborhood landmark. Yet not everyone is pleased with the design. Passersby still ask when the bricks are going to be put on. Well, there won’t be any bricks. The exterior skin consists of cement and fiber panels attached directly to the bookshelf supports instead of a separate system. The building is oriented at a 45-degree angle to the street in order to capture the north light and the prevailing south breezes, an arrangement that cuts energy consumption dramatically. The interior combines rich woods with brightly painted metal air ducts and rubber flooring, another design feature that some people consider too far out for Dallas. It is, which is fine.