William Pereira designed the Central Library in La Jolla for the UCSD in southern California. Robert A. Thorburn was the project architect and Neilsen Construction Co. headed the construction.
Completed in 1970, the Brutalist Modernist design originally intended as a spherical building with structure hidden inside. But the diagonal structural elements were moved prominently to the exterior. The windowed mass of the library terraces upward. The first two stories stand as a pedestal for the rest of the eight levels in the stepped tower, in a very unique aesthetic which many see as imposing. A similar building’s image was used in the film ‘Inception.’
The architect intended future additions to slide underneath the sloped sides and proceed into the canyon. It is located at a canyon’s entrance in the center of the university campus. But instead, the interior of the building has been changed over the years to the determinant of the bare design. A 1992 restoration returned private reading stations that had been lost. Original construction cost $5.4 million.
The shifting concept of space for this library influenced several other works including the Seattle Central Library.
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