ABSTRACT
When they voted to tax themselves to support the overhaul of their city’s library system, Seattleites expected to play a leading role in deciding how those funds would be spent – particularly in the case of the city’s new Central Library.1 Throughout the design process, the public’s input was solicited and catalogued – but because the library and design team controlled both the major design decisions and the discourse surrounding that design, the public’s input had only limited effect. A case study of the communication surrounding the design of the Seattle Central Library illuminates the discursive system that frames the design agenda, informs the design itself, and defines the extent of public involvement.
