Having students leap to their deaths in the atrium of NYU's Bobst library is a challenge that almost no architectural form could survive. So the soaring 150-foot atrium in the Philip Johnson/Richard Foster-designed library recently was outfitted with perforated aluminum screens that prevent students from making any fatal decisions. The design by Joel Sanders Architect is meant to evoke a digital motif, according to the Times, in an attempt to keep the decor current and relevant while not clashing too broadly with the building that was constructed in the 1970s. Personally, we feel like an anti-suicide trapeze net 15 feet off the ground would be less obtrusive and transformative to the architectural meaning of the library. But then we remembered, "Oh yeah—college kids."
· A Digitally Inspired Veil, Intended to Save Lives, Appears at N.Y.U. Library [NYT]
· Joel Sanders Architect [official]
· NYU coverage [Curbed]
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