In Seattle's library, Rem Koolhaas has created a protective shell and filled it with new ideas. ... The Modernist argument was that the uniform floor slab was a model of functional efficiency.

Mark Rahner talks to architect Rem Koolhaas, who designed the Central Library. The Seattle Public Library celebrates the completion of its "Libraries for All" building program Saturday.

The library is its own kind of landscape, with sweeping vistas floor to floor. Koolhaas is famous for creative and economical use of prosaic materials. Every one of the 11 floors rewards study.