State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, Donovan Hill / Peddle Thorpe

And some notes on libraries in the 21st century in general

Notes from August 2008 on the State Library of Queensland (SLQ) in Brisbane, designed by Donovan Hill/Peddle Thorp (2007), reworking the original scheme by Robin Gibson (1988). (This piece led to much strategic work with the SLQ, starting with assessing the way their wifi was changing what the library was and what it did. Do read about that here.)

This is the best most interesting, coherent, and adventurous library I’ve seen anywhere. Certainly superior to the Bibliothèque National de France, to the British Library, and superior even to the celebrated Seattle Public Library, to name but three I’ve explored in person. And despite having a fraction of their budget, I’d guess. More on other contemporary libraries later, but here are some observations from the numerous times I’ve visited the SLQ, alongside other notes and references.