The Riverside Main Library made a splash in my hometown when it opened a few years ago. It's an immediately striking building with its floating design and long swooping windows. I have spent some time shooting it over the years and the more I explore this building, the more I wonder about how this was designed.


For example, one of the things I kept coming back to while photographing the building was the main entrance. Rather than entering into a conventional lobby, visitors arrive at a pair of elevator doors in an angled (and very reflective!) elevator shaft. I found myself wondering how this bold design decision was made and how such a radical design was pitched to the city of Riverside.

Main entrance elevators to Riverside Main Library, in Riverside, CA
Detail of Riverside Main Library, in Riverside, CA

What was the inspiration behind the oblong shape of the large windows on the north and south-facing sides?

Detail of oblong shaped window from inside of the Riverside Main Library
Kids looking out of the window from inside of the Riverside Main Library
Detail of oblong shaped window from inside of the Riverside Main Library and a man reading.
Sweeping architecture of the upper patio area of the Riverside Main Library
Embedded boulders on the upper patio area of the Riverside Main Library

Are the embedded boulders on the patio meant to echo the nearby Mount Rubidoux?

Riverside Main Library from Mount Rubidoux at sunset
South elevation of Riverside Main Library
North East corner of the Riverside Main Library from the street at dusk

One of my first images of the library after it was completed, July 2021.

Panorama of the north west corner of Riverside Main Library from the street at dusk
Front elevation of the Riverside Main Library illuminated from within at night just after dusk

Was the street ever meant to pass under the library?

Corner of the Riverside Main Library at night with an Edward Hopper feel

What is striking to you about this library?