College and Research Libraries Academic Library Planning: Rationality, Imagination, and Field Theory in the Work of Walter Netsch-A Case Study William G. Jones Architect Walter Netsch is responsible for the design of fifteen library buildings, including such major works as the University of Chicago's Joseph Regenstein Library and Northwestern University's main library. Netsch developed a principle for ordering the design elements in some of these buildings that he has termed "field theory." This paper discusses how field theory principles were applied in two Netsch build- ings, how he used a complicated geometry in a third, and how the planning committee modified the appli- cation of the ''field'' in one of those buildings. • alter A. Netsch, Jr., design part- ner for Chicago's Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Architec- tural Firm, designed fifteen li- brary buildings during his career. Two of them were major research libraries and were built for Northwestern University (1969) and the University of Chicago (1970). Netsch gained national recognition as an innovative and imaginative architect through such assignments as the master plan for the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs (1962) and the Univer- sity of illinois at Chicago Circle (1965). He designed other libraries, both public and academic, including those for Wells College in Aurora, New York (1968) and Texas Christian University (1981). The University of illinois at Chicago Circle de- sign included a large library building to be constructed in three phases, although this campus library was designed primarily to serve an undergraduate enrollment. (Only two phases were completed.)1 In many of his buildings Netsch em- ployed a design system that he labeled 11 field theory,'' a method for developing the layout on both large and small scales through the elaboration of a geometric fig- ure. This article explains what field theory ·is, how Netsch used it in one of his earlier buildings, how he used geometric figures (but not according to field theory princi- ples) in Northwestern University's main library, and how he applied the theory in the Science-Engineering Library (SEL, 1977) at Northwestern University. It also shows how the SEL planning committee changed Netsch' s proposed design, and the effect these changes had on the aes- thetic and functional dimensions of the building. Architectural Record2 defined field theory as follows: Once the programmatic needs and site require- ments are organized into a generalized plan that works, various geometric fields are tested and an appropriate one applied. The selected field provides a continuous proportional sys- tem with infinite mathematical variations. As in contemporary painting, sculpture and music; William G. Jones is Acting University Librarian at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois 60680. 207 208 College & Research Libraries continuity, ambiguity, overlapping, scale change, lattice, pattern and shape are constant ordering elements. The primary ordering systems in Netsch' s Field Theory are the combinations (or orthogonal right angle) patterns and diagonal (angular) patterns most often defined by rotating the square. The combination of patterns that results from this geometrical game becomes the field. The variety of patterns that can be pro- duced by this process results in infinite oppor- tunities to find a field that will give order to the preliminary organization of building elements. A "rotated square" looks like this: It can be elaborated to look like this: And like this: 3 May1990 A schematic layout for a field theory building based on the rotated square is the Behavioral Sciences Building (BSB) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (1965). (See figure 1 and photograph 1.) The building contains offices, classrooms, lec- ture halls, and a cafeteria, incorporating such varied features as winding stair- cases, galleries, and atria. (See photo- 11 Altho~gh stylistically elegant, us- ers complain that the complicated layout, extensive use of interior corri- dors, and inadquate lighting lead to a building that prevents users from finding their way within it.'' graphs 2,3,4.) Through the elaboration of the geometric figures contained within the rotated square, Netsch created a building of great variety, both geometric and sym- metric. Although stylistically elegant, us- ers complain that the complicated layout, extensive use of interior corridors, and in- adequate lighting lead to a building that prevents users from finding their way within it. Northwestern University's Main Li- brary (1969) was built to replace the older Deering Library with a research library serving faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates. It houses the library's so- cial sciences and humanities collections, the library's administrative offices, the technical processing operations for all Evanston campus libraries, and it contains such specialized service units as govern- ment publications, reference, curriculum collection, the Melville J. Herskovits Li- brary of Africana, and a 60,000 volume noncirculating collection (the Core Li- brary) designed primarily for undergradu- ate use. The Northwestern Library possesses three stack towers raised over the services floor. The services floor contains adminis- tration, circulation, periodicals, reference, and technical processing. A service core containing elevators and stairs links the towers and provides vertical transporta- Academic Library Planning 209 BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE CENTER Source: Architectural Record, 167, 118 Oan. 1980). FIGURE 1 Behavioral Science Center tion between them and the services floor. A typical floor in one of the towers con- tains enclosed and open carrels, typing rooms, and seminar rooms arranged around a radial stack system and a central study area. (See figure 2 and photographs 5, 6.) Instead of generating the layout by rotating the square as field theory would require, Netsch has placed a circle within a square, and repeated the pattern in each tower. This opposition of orthogonal and circular forms give the layout a vibrating quality, the viewer's eye moving from cir- cle, to rectangle, to square. According to an article in the journal In- teriors, 4 Netsch designed Northwestern University's library while he was still for- mulating his field theory. The building contains, nonetheless, many features of field theory buildings, a ''crystalline sur- face skin,'' a ''lack of facade,'' ''avoidance of masses," a "contact between interiors and landscape," and "avoidance of dis- rupting the landscape.'' 210 College & Research Libraries May 1990 1. University of Illinois at Chicago. Behavioral Sciences Building. View from the South. Because of the radial arrangement of the stacks, the library user inside the towers is more aware of circular elements in the de- sign than of the orthogonal. Users may initially have difficulty orienting them- selves within this layout. Windows are of- ten helpful in assisting users to orient themselves within buildings. In this build- ing, however, windows are small, vertical panels that are not readily visible from within the stacks. For orientation, users must rely on maps, directional arrows, and signage to find their way through an interior apparently devoid of orienting cues. There are cues, however, and they become more apparent by looking at the layout. Each tower floor has a principal entry approached from the corridor linking it to the service core. Fire exits and stairs to other floors lie opposite the entry in an- other corner of the tower. A person at the center of a tower can see entry and stairs, but they are easily seen only from the cen- ter. Unless the user knows the layout thor- oughly, the most efficient way to find a call number location is to move to the cen- ter of the tower and use the range finders there to guide his movement along the ra- dial arms. Academic Library Planning 211 2. University of fllinois at Chicago. Behavioral Sciences Building. Winding Stairway. This layout takes time to learn. Users ac- customed to libraries with orthogonal lay- outs (and other high-use buildings like su- permarkets and department stores) will have to use the building several times be- fore they can move about it comfortably. The radial plan of the stacks permits open carrels and study spaces to be placed near the centers of the towers between the less densely arranged stack ranges, but the ra- dial arrangement doesn't offer as great a density of shelving as an orthogonal lay- out would. Before the introduction of the online catalog made the placement of ter- minals closer to the collections possible, the unfortunate user needing to return to the card catalog from one of the towers faced a long and time-consuming trip. This need remains for that portion of the catalog not converted to machine- readable form. Netsch designed a second library build- ing for Northwestern University, the Seeley G. Mudd Library for Science and Engineering (SEL,l977). This 60,000- square-foot building unites collections for astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. Only collections forge- ology and mathematics remain separate. The Geology Library lies at the south end 212 College & Research Libraries May1990 3. University of Illinois at Chicago. Behavioral Sciences Building. Exterior Stairway. 4. University of Illinois at Chicago. Behavioral Sciences Building. Stairs Ascending to Wall. Source: Interiors, 130,110 (Nov. 1970). Academic Library Planning 213 FIGURE2 South Pavilion 5. Northwestern University Library. Stack Tower. 214 College & Research Libraries 6. Northwestern University Library. Stack Tower. of campus and will merge with SEL should the geology faculty ever acquire its own space closer to the other sciences in the north. In SEL, Netsch used rotated squares to define interior spaces (offices, stairwells, mechanical rooms, toilets) while leaving the L-shaped exterior almost completely orthogonal (a diagonal window wall bridges the two arms of the ''L. '')(See fig- ure 3, photograph 7.) Early proposals for the building followed field theory princi- ples by extending interior diagonals to the perimeter where triangular insets in the side of the building would have broken up the otherwise unrelieved expanse of lime- stone and reflective glass. Another dis- carded variation would have resulted in finlike projections extending beyond the core of the building, set directly opposite the triangular insets. The projections would have contained windows with op- erable sash, installed for the purpose of improving natural ventilation should air conditioning, as an energy-reducing mea- sure, have to be limited. These projections May1990 would have related SEL visually to an- other nearby Netsch building, the 0. T. Hogan Biological Sciences Laboratory. (See photograph 8.) Users enter SEL on the second, or ser- vices floor via a bridge leading from the adjacent Technological Institute Building. An elevator and three stair cores provide convenient access to collections on the first and third floors. Stacks follow a con- ventional orthogonal layout. Service points are few. Exit control, circulation, and information desks are staffed during hours of heaviest use. These service points are close to each other and are visi- ble from the library entrance. During hours of low use, all three services can be offered from the circulation desk. Site planning for SEL was constrained by the need to provide access to a major campus drainage system crossing the site. N etsch met this requirement by creating an oversized loading dock at the ground level underneath the second floor main entrance. The layout of the dock and its adjoining mail room preserves some of the Academic Library Planning 215 Proposed inset READif.JG ~ S TACKS Proposed inset • ·~~ · ~ E • Proposed inset I ST. FLOOR PL 1-J ~E SEELEY G . MUDD BUILPINq SCAL-E. 'to" "' 1'-o FIGURE3 Netsch' s Rotated Squares Defined Offices, Stairwells, Mechanical Rooms, and Other Interior Spaces diagonal elements used elsewhere in the building. (See figure 4, photograph 9.) However, the allocation of a significant block of first floor area to dock, heating and ventilating equipment, and staff room breaks up the stack space into isolated pockets that are approachable only by fol- lowing a somewhat circuitous path. Netsch often placed doors and corridors near supporting columns, gaining addi- tional space for open areas. This arrange- ment improved the ratio between net as- signable and gross square feet, but it did so at the cost of requiring traffic to move awkwardly around pillars. Netsch' s field theory buildings have ex- terior shapes that follow the interior diag- onals generated by the rotated squares. The curious feature about the application of these diagonals is that the geometric and aesthetic unity resulting from the de- sign is not apparent to those using the building. The organic nature of the design is only revealed by viewing the layout from above, as if the roof were cut away. Also, applying the system of rotated squares to the layout in SEL forced depar- tures from the specifications of the pro- gram of requirements. For example, of- fices are about 90 square feet instead of the specified 140 square feet. The oddly shaped and reduced-in-size offices re- 216 College & Research Libraries May1990 7. Northwestern University Library. Seeley G. Mudd Library for Science and Engineering. 8. Northwestern University Library. 0. T. Hogan Biological Sciences Building. Academic Library Planning 217 Proposed inset 21JD FLOOR PLAN ~CALE ', 'jo " 11-0 FIGURE4 Level Two: User Services quire special furniture. Wall units must be used because conventional rectangular desks are both too large and do not fit eas- ily into the unusual offices. When the planning committee finally decided that the building exterior should not be punctuated by triangular insets, N etsch proposed retaining triangular ar- eas as clerestories, with balconies that would link one floor to another. In these attempts to bring visual interest to the building, to ''get away from the boredom of the square box,'' 5 Netsch argued that flooring and enclosing the triangular areas would add to the building's construction costs, because such spaces had to be heated, cooled, and lit. The planning com- mittee countered that balconies would result in unwanted noise being transmit- ted between the floors and that too much usable space would be lost to features that were solely of aesthetic interest. As built, the library contains no triangular insets, fins, or balconies. These changes pro- duced a less distinctive design, but one more closely meeting the functional goal of the planning committee to maximize square footage at the lowest cost. Netsch has called the library a "compromise" building. SEL offers staff and users generous pub- lic areas, large windows looking out over Northwestern's north campus and Lake Michigan, and conveniently placed ser- vice desks. Its undersized, oddly shaped offices, fragmented ground floor, and oversize loading dock are awkward de- tails, but do not significantly reduce the 218 College & Research Libraries May 1990 9. Northwestern University Library. Seeley G. Mudd Library for Science & Engineering. Dock. building's overall effectiveness. Better so- lutions might have been found, but the planning committee and architects ex- pended considerable energy in debating the functionality of the diagonal layout, and further changes could not have been made without starting almost entirely anew. '' 'Potential flaws,' include the use of irregular shapes, interior or exte- rior courts, monumentality, and too much or too little glass.'' CONCLUSION In his 1984 College & Research Libraries ar- ticle, David Kaser uses four problem areas identified by Keyes Metcalf to critique li- brary buildings constructed during the previous two decades. 6 These problem ar- eas, "potential flaws," include the use of irregular shapes, interior or exterior courts, monumentality, and too much or too little glass. Kaser himself notes the in- efficiency of the radial design for North- western's Library. This building, visually appealing on the exterior and elegantly finished on the interior, requires its users · to traverse considerable distances from entrances to towers. The self-contained towers admit no possibility of expansion; once filled the only alternative will be an- other free-standing structure. A large plaza that also serves as a roof to the public services and office floor has been a perpet- ual source of leaks, the result of fissures opening between plaza and indepen- dently moving towers. The reasons for cit- ing irregular shape and monumentality as sources of problems are demonstrated in this building. In a ''field theory'' building like the Be- havioral Sciences Building, N etsch showed that he could manipulate geomet- ric forms generated by rotated squares in a variety of ways to create an aesthetically unified architectural work. However, its negative features include a bewildering layout, poorly illuminated interiors unre- lieved by the use of color, and fanciful winding staircases, those on the exterior closed to use during Chicago's harsh win- ters. In sum, BSB is a maze of confusing, interior corridors and awkwardly shaped offices. Like NU's towers, a lack of win- dows and a confusing layout offer users few cues by which to orient themselves. BSB' s west face is forbidding and unwel- coming to traffic from adjacent parking lots. (See photograph 10.) Its brick and concrete surfaces, alternating gray and brown, both interior and exterior, give it a cold, austere appearance. Had Netsch applied the rigid geometry characteristic of his other buildings to Northwestern's Science-Engineering Li- brary, the design would have dominated and subordinated the function taking place within it as it does in the other build- ings discussed in this paper. That out- come was avoided in SEL because the planning committee decided that recovery of functional space was more important than the creation of a distinctive and aes- Academic Library Planning 219 thetically unified design. The characteristics of the buildings de- scribed in this paper and their impact on users are by no means unique, but thoughtful consideration of the design features exhibited in these building de- signs suggests other areas of inquiry: What are the costs in user satisfaction and functional utility in buildings where de- sign governs so thoroughly? Does the use of "You-Are-Here Maps" 7 contribute to the aesthetic appreciation of a building as well as its effective use? Must users of complicated buildings develop an under- standing of the logic underlying the layout before they begin to find their way in them effectively? Do users conceptually map a building to obtain most effective use of it? The creation of an academic library building meets more goals than the con- struction of a structure. These include the goals of architects to create buildings of beauty, to lend distinction to the names of their firms (and that lead to other commis- sions); the goals of librarians to occupy buildings of function and comfort for 10. University of fllinois at Chicago. Behavioral Sciences Building. View from the West. 220 College & Research Libraries themselves and their users (and that en- hance their reputations as professionals of both vision and practicality), and the goals of administrators to complete buildings that satisfy those who sponsor, support, and lend their names to the buildings and campuses on which the buildings are placed. Librarians who become involved in building planning can prepare themselves for working with architects designing buildings for them by visiting and review- ing layouts for other buildings designed by the_ architects. In working with promi- nent architects, librarians will be able to determine whether the architects have written about the aesthetic principles in- forming their work. They may ask ques- tions like the following: Will those work- ing in and using the building be able to move about in it without excessive reli- ance on signage, floor plans, or informa- May 1990 tion desks? Will standard furniture and equipment fit in the spaces designed for them? Will users, book trucks, cartons and crates be able to move or be moved easily from one area or one floor to another with- out encountering columns, balconies, or other impediments? Is there so little glass that users will become confused or disori- ented within the building, or so much that valuable collections will be exposed to harmful sunlight? Librarians need to be alert to the conse- quences of accepting designs that depart from conventions by which much of the world uses and judges buildings, and they should ask themselves how the design promotes the use to which a building will be put. Finally, they should remember that academic library building planning is very much a group process in which the outcome may change, even late in the project. REFERENCES 1. Carl W. Condit, Chicago 1930-1970: Building Planning, and Urban Technology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) p.181-89. 2. "A New Museum by Walter Netsch of SOM Given Order by His Field Theory," Architectural Rec- ord, 167:111-20 Oan. 1980). · 3. Ibid., p.118. 4. Gueft, Olgo, "Walter A. Netsch" Interiors, 130,110 (Nov. 1970). 5. "Netsch, Walter A(ndrew Jr.)," In Contemporary Architects, ed. by Muriel Emanuel (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980), p.585-86. 6. David Kaser. ''Twenty-five Years of Academic Library Building Planning,'' College & Research Li- braries,34:261-68 Ouly 1984). 7. Marvin Levine, "You-Are-Here Maps: Psychological Considerations," Environment and Behavior 14, no.2:221-37 (March 1982).