| This thesis traces the spatial design history of the University of Southern California's Helen Topping Architecture and Fine Arts (AFA) Library from the inception of the architecture library circa 1923 to the present. Between 1923 and late 1973, when the AFA Library moved to the newly constructed Ray and Nadine Watt Hall, the spaces allocated to the library did not have particular architectural design features. Nevertheless, although during this period the librarians were consumed with developing collections and services to meet the research and curricular needs of the library's primary users, they also worked on improving the spatial and aesthetic features of the library. The Modernist architecture of Watt Hall, which opened in late 1973, also became a defining feature of the AFA Library's identity, both in the original design and in the design of the striking 1990 addition. In the thesis I examine the library as a case study for the influences of twentieth century Brutalism and Rationalism in architecture. I also look at the question of the integrity of a designed functional space, the purpose of which is to accommodate the changing needs of the library and of the University, within the framework of historic preservation. |
