Long-Stalled Hunters Point Library Is Finally Happening

Steven Holl's design for the long-planned Queens West library in Hunters Point were revealed more than three years ago—which was years after the project first started—and now work is really, truly going to start on the library. A groundbreaking ceremony has been set for this Saturday, May 16, and library officials say that the new branch will be up and running by 2017, finally making Long Island City a little less "soulless."

Holl designed an aluminum box of a building, with huge windows carved out, allowing for great views inside, and turning the library into a glowing beacon at night, visible from Manhattan across the water. Or, as former Times critic Nicolai Ouroussoff put it:

At dusk the library's odd-shaped windows will emit an eerie glow, looking a bit like ghosts trapped inside a machine. And late at night, when the building is dark, spotlights will illuminate its pockmarked facade and the windows will resemble caves dug into the wall of a cliff.The original designs also called for a tranquil reading garden with gingko trees and a reflecting pool, but it's unclear if those features are still part of the plan, as the library had to cut some of the more "elaborate" elements to bring down costs.

· All Queens West Library coverage [Curbed]