The architecturally minded will be interested in the University of Washington’s Suzzallo Library. Designed by Carl Gould around 1926, this bibliophile’s dream was inspired by Henry Suzzallo, UW’s president at the time. Suzzallo wanted it to look like a cathedral, because ‘the library is the soul of the university'. Unfortunately for him, his bosses disagreed; on reviewing the building, they deemed it too expensive and fired Suzzallo for his extravagance.
However, the dream was partially realized in the grand neogothic entrance lobby and the truly beguiling reading room with its massive cathedral-like windows that, on fine days, cast filtered sunlight onto the long reading pews.
