Princeton Theological Seminary Library by EYP

Wandering around Princeton this morning, mainly looking for century-old neogothic things, I stumbled across a new building that I like a lot. This is Princeton Theological Seminary's Bicentennial Library, designed by Einhorn Yaffee Prescott architects of Boston.

This is what I look for in a new building: it evokes the past without slavishly copying any past style, and it incorporates some of the worthwhile features of modernism, such as big windows that let in lots of natural light.

 Above and below, pictures from the architects' web site.

I was especially pleased by the twelve carved medallions on the face of the tower, which you can't see in these pictures because it was a very dim day. I was even more pleased when I discovered that they had been saved from the old, now demolished library to be incorporated into the new. More architects should re-use bits of old, beloved buildings. Just as more architects should pay attention to the surroundings of their buildings and design things that will fit in.