HWLC Building Exterior - Chicago Public Library

Harold Washington Library Center

Main Building

BUILDING EXTERIOR

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Granite blocks of Napoleon red anchor the Harold Washington Library Center at its base. Just above the rusticated blocks runs a chain-patterned band called a guilloche. Five-story-tall arched windows break up the red brick walls on three sides of the building. Cast stone ornamentation links these windows, as medallions featuring, Windy City Man preside above corn stalks which extend down for four floors. The cornstalks end at faces of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, and the city motto, Urbs in Horto (City in a Garden). In 1993, seven ornaments were added to the roof, placed on each of the four corners, as well as in the centers of the State, Congress, and Van Buren sides. These ornaments incorporate seed pods designed by Kent Bloomer, symbolizing the natural bounty of the Midwest. The barn owls, perched in the foliage at the four corners, and the Great Horned Owl over the State Street entrance, all designed by Raymond Kaskey, represent knowledge. A glass wall rises above the base on the Plymouth Court side.

HWLC Building Exterior Harold Washington Library Center

Chicago Public Library

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Harold Washington Library Center

Harold Washington Library Center

Main Building

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