The Mansueto Library is the most recent
addition to the University of Chicago campus. It is positioned next to the
older (and very dissimilar looking) Regenstein Library. When I was a student
here, I would walk past the construction for this building nearly every day and
for most of this time the site was simply a large pit. Although there is a
visible exterior above ground, there is an extensive repository many feet deep
which is mostly inaccessible (this space is reserved for robotic hand cranes
that retrieve books from the underground stacks). I remember feeling very
anxious for this building to be finished after having seen the plans for it for
so long. Ultimately, it was underwhelming. The only space that could be used
for studying is packed into the first floor and although there are carrels that
separate each person, there is so little room inside them that it feels very
cramped. And while I was personally impressed with Mansueto’s architecture, its
open windows on its only habitable floor were not very viable as a study space.
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