The Future of Libraries: Opening the Doors for Democracy
Hosted by John King, Urban Design Critic of the San Francisco Chronicle

The Future of Libraries: Opening the Doors for Democracy

Members of Mechanics’ Institute FREE admission. Enter promo code "FestMI23" below.

Mechanics’ Institute is pleased to present this special program for the Annual Architecture + the City Festival presented by AIA-SF and the Center for Architecture +Design September 8 to 30, 2023.

Our program will explore how architects and designers are providing new or re-envisioned library spaces for diverse neighborhoods to promote accessibility, community engagement, and citizenship. This is an essential and timely topic due to the repercussions of COVID and the economic changes in the city and the Financial District where we reside. The evening panel, hosted by John King, Urban Design Critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, will features architects Christopher Noll, FAIA, LEED AP and Trina Goodwin, LEED AP from Noll & Tam Architects, Pauline Souza, FAIA, Leed Fellow, WELL AP, LFA and Adam Woltag, AIA, LEED AP from WRNS Studio, and Charles Higueras from Center for Architecture & Design. Panelists will present their award-winning designs and share their ideas and challenges for the future of libraries throughout the Bay Area and across the country.

The above images are of Noll & Tam's award-winning Hayward Public Library and WRNS' award-winning Atherton Public Library.

John King is the San Francisco Chronicle’s Urban Design Critic and a lifelong fan of libraries. This November his book Portal: San Francisco’s Ferry Building and the Reinvention of American Cities will be published by W.W. Norton.

Christopher Noll is a principal of Noll & Tam and the firm’s library practice leader. He has directed all of Noll & Tam’s public library projects since the firm’s founding. Chris offers exceptional skills in collaborating with clients and leading projects through all phases of design while remaining sensitive to the needs and concerns of library stakeholders and users. Chris is actively involved in the library community through the California Library Association (CLA) and the American Library Association (ALA). As a member of the CL Legislative Committee, he led a statewide space needs assessment for California’s more than 1,100 public libraries. Chris engages in research about future trends in library facilities and library service delivery. With Anthony Bernier, Ph.D., of San Jose State University, he developed the “Youth Opportunity Design Approach,” a curriculum guide for how to engage youth in the design of library spaces.

Over the course of a 40-year career as an architect, Trina Goodwin has planned and designed numerous Bay Area public facilities. At Noll & Tam since 2005 and an associate principal with the firm, Trina most recently designed the interior architecture for the Hayward Library & Community Learning Center. She offers the dual perspective of an architect and an interior designer specializing in space planning and furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E). She has a particular interest in creating efficient and supportive spaces for library services that respond to the needs of library staff and patrons and that feature highly durable finishes and materials that are attractive yet hold up to heavy public use.

Charles Higueras, FAIA, recently retired as the acting Director of Project Management at the San Francisco Department of Public Works, responsible for major capital projects underway in the City including those for the Public Health and Safety Bond of 2016, and the Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bonds of 2010 and 2014, and 2020. Before joining the City in 2008, he had a 26 year career as an architect in private practice focused on educational projects for school and community college districts around northern California. Mr. Higueras served as a San Francisco Public Library Commissioner from 1996 to 2008 providing oversight of the Branch Library Improvement program of 2000. He is a past board member of the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, and also served on the board of the Urban Libraries Council. Mr. Higueras graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with an undergraduate and graduate degree in Architecture.

Pauline Souza, FAIA, LEED Fellow, WELL AP, LFA, has dedicated her career to the building and advocacy of high-quality, sustainable environments that serve the public, students, and educators. A recognized leader within the green building movement, Pauline’s work has advanced sustainable thinking by stewarding thoughtful principles into firm-wide practices. Committed to sharing what she has learned with the larger community, she speaks regularly at conferences and is a recurring contributor to publications focused on sustainable building design and practices.

Adam Woltag, AIA, LEED AP, approaches each design challenge by searching for a balance between the poetic and the pragmatic — beauty meets budget, program, and site. The places he crafts respond to the natural environment and function sustainably, with a lasting elegance that does more with less. These qualities of his work have been recognized with numerous publications and awards, including two AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Awards for Sonoma Academy Janet Durgin Guild and Commons and Watsonville Water Resources Center.

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Members of Mechanics’ Institute FREE admission. Enter promo code "FestMI23" below.

Questions? Please email [email protected] or call 415-393-0101