It has been a couple of years now since I last posted in “Jim’s Corner.” My last post, in May of 2024, featured the Lamanda Park Branch Library designed by James Pulliam, FAIA which is located on Altadena Drive in Pasadena.
This posting is about another library off of Altadena Drive, but in Altadena. I will admit that I had probably driven past it a hundred or more times, and never bothered to stop by or walk in. This time my motivation came from an article I read about its pending major renovation. And given that alterations often include accessibility and other code requirements that can alter an original design, I decided to make a special trip to go through it and take photos of its original design.
This is the Altadena Library located at 600 E Mariposa St, Altadena, CA 91001. It is again one of our own chapter member’s masterpieces, this time Boyd Georgi AIA. Boyd passed away at 85 on October 19, 1999. His legacy lives on through his amazing Altadena Library, pictured below:
Set back from the street corner and nestled behind lush landscaping with palms and deodars, the 1967 main library is almost invisible except for its unusual suspended entry wooden bridge. Its style would probably be classified “International” because of its post WWII modernist concrete block walls and extensive glass and concrete. Its carefully balanced asymmetry reminds me of the works of Richard Neutra FAIA.
Situated on a sloping site, the building gracefully steps down alongside its famous Christmas Tree Lane (Santa Rosa Avenue) frontage. Entrances are at several levels, creating interesting switchback pathways angling up through the lush landscaping, along with places to stop and read a book or simply rest.
Upon arrival, one is almost overwhelmed by the explosion of soft but natural lighting. The interiors are its greatest virtue!
Much like the ‘other’ Altadena Drive Library, ceilings appear to float atop the glass walls. But the effect here is quite different. Ceilings and the roof planes interlock with one another at different levels, the uppermost punctuated by a floating skylight that ‘punches’ natural light into the center of the building. The abundant perimeter windows provide beautiful garden views. This is in contrast with most libraries that typically have few windows, instead reserving their outside walls for yet more book stacks. The very center of the building takes on the appearance of an indoor “streetscape” with its own light poles, planters, contrasting paving, and mid-century furniture:
The overall effect is magical! One simply wants to find a niche and read a book. No wonder why the library is so popular with Altadenans – and so fiercely protected!
AN UNEXPECTED TURN OF EVENTS - AND - UNEXPECTED HEROS!
The long-planned renovation and upgrade was suddenly disrupted by the events of the Eaton Fire of January 7th a year ago. By the following morning, the fire had reached the corner of Mariposa and Santa Rosa Avenue fronting the library. It had already ignited the senior center next door and several homes to the east and north. No one was there to protect the library this time, not even the fire department!
Serendipity intervened within the family of Rick Cole, our own Pasadena councilman who with his twin daughters were watching the unfolding disaster on TV. One of his daughters suggested they instead drive north into Altadena to help a couple of friends whose homes were threatened. Cole had just taken office on the City Council as of January 1. This may have given them the credentials needed to pass through the various roadblocks into the fire area. But when they arrived at their friend’s homes, both were already in flames. So they turned south along Santa Rosa Avenue to encounter the library completely intact but threatened by flames and flying embers.
Rick recounted that the palm trees, in particular, were already smoking. It was only a matter of minutes (even seconds) before they would ignite. (It has later been determined that these particular trees send off flaming “grenade-sized” embers that were particularly dangerous in spreading the fire. Countering that to a degree were the deodar trees that appeared to filter-out the smaller embers and survive unscathed.)
The photo below looking northeast illustrates the various varieties of trees right at the fire front they encountered - as I photographed them a year earlier in February 2024.
Also included is a photo of the wooden entry bridge that threatened the building:
Rick and his daughters noticed right next door on the south was a swimming pool. So they rushed to find suitable trash and smaller containers in order to transport water up the hill to fight the fire. They created what amounts to an old fashioned “bucket brigade”. And with it, they were able put out embers as they fell, and save the library.
It could be argued that its construction, mainly of incombustible materials, might have survived regardless of their efforts. But it should also be noted that the windows were the weak point. They are mostly single-glazed and probably un-tempered glass.
Furthermore, if the wood entry bridge had ignited, the heat alone might have breached the roof fascia and soffit alongside it, allowing the fire to enter the interior.
Now that it has been saved and cleaned of smoke damage, it was just this past month that it has finally been closed for that long-awaited refurbishment. Let’s hope that th refurbishment doesn’t erase some of Boyd’s mid-century touches, such as period color schemes and furniture, and the lush landscaping.
The Altadena Library, like the Lamanda Park Library of my previous posting, is certainly a design for its time. Yet it could be said that it again achieves that illusive quality that few buildings ever achieve: --- timelessness!
-Jim
Jim Spencer, AIA is a legacy member of the AIAPF Chapter and long-serving board member and contributing historian.
