Uptown’s Walker Library turns 10 this year. Since its opening in 2014 the library has become a stable community resource for one of the busiest areas in the Twin Cities offering classrooms, work/rest areas, meeting rooms and other community-facing resources. Designed to replace the previous underground bunker-like facility, the library has been celebrated for providing Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood with a much-needed front porch “offering a daydream-inducing setting for sitting and reading.” The library’s form reflects the surrounding historic context of solid masonry volumes over glass storefronts and the facade inflects towards the urban transit station and bicycle greenway and the Uptown Theater historic marquis. In an area that has few public hubs, the library continues to offer residents room for reading, learning, and exploring. The Walker Library has been recognized locally and nationally with awards and citations from the American Library Association, the AIA Minnesota, Dezeen, Architect Magazine, the StarTribune and Architecture Minnesota.
Photography Credit: Paul Crosby (slide 1 and 2) and VJAA (slide 3)