The Boston Public Library
(1887-1895)
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Architect: McKim, Mead, & White
References: McKim, Mead, & White: The Masterworks, 2003, p 70-81;
www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Boston_Public_Library.html
When it opened in 1895, the new Boston Public
Library was proclaimed a "palace for the people."
This building included a children's room, the first in the
nation, and a sculpture garden in its central court-
yard surrounded by an arcaded gallery in the
manner of a Renaissance cloister.
Library first floor plan & second floor plan
scale: 1/64”= 1’-0”
To Copley Square the library presents a façade
reminiscent of Palazzo della Cancelleria, a sixteenth
century Italian palace in Rome (illustration, top). The
arcaded windows of its façade owe a debt to the
side elevations of Alberti's Tempio Malatestiano,
Rimini, the first fully Renaissance building. McKim also
drew on the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris
(built 1845 to 1851). McKim did not simply imitate his
models, however; the three central bays are subtly
emphasized without breaking the rhythm.
Elevation of Dartmouth Street facade
scale: 1/32”= 1’-0”
UTArlington School of Architecture
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PRECEDENT STUDY: THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
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