Geisel Library

The Geisel Library at the University of California, San Diego was designed by architect William L. Pereira and opened in 1970. It has 255,000 square feet and a brutalist concrete structure in the shape of a partially buried sphere supported by 16 angled columns. Pereira designed the building to accommodate 3,000 readers and a collection of 2.5 million books using a reinforced concrete structure to withstand seismic and other lateral loads in the region.

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Geisel Library

Uploaded by

Gaby Harumi

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Geisel Library

Gauri Nadkarni, Preston Scott, Kasi Svoboda, Shaghayegh Taheri,

Julie Wright, Guang Yang
Introduction
 Typology: University Central Library
 Architect: William L. Pereira
 Location: University of California, San Diego (La Jolla,
California)
 Date: 1970
 Area: 255,000 sqft
 Dedicated to Audrey &
Theodore Seuss Geisel
(Dr. Seuss) in 1995
Background

Campus Master
Plan
The Architect:
William L. Pereira
 Born: April 25, 1909; Chicago, Illinois
 Education: University of Illinois (1931)
 Career:
 Started 3 architectural firms over his life
lifetime
 Movie making business
 Professor of architecture at University of
Southern California
 Style:
 Brutalist
 Functionalist
 Pre-Cast Concrete
Design Concept
Program:
 3,000 readers
 2,500,000 books
Design Concept

Forum
 16 columns
Design Concept

Forum
Design Concept
Below Forum
 Public Floor
 Main entrance
 Staff areas
 Library Services
 Basement
 Staff areas
 Mechanical
Design Concept
Below Forum
Design Concept

Above Forum
 5 Floors
 Book collection
 Study areas
 Elliptical in Section
 “Circular” in Plan
Design Concept

Above Forum:
1st level of
stacks
Design Concept

Above Forum:
2nd level of
stacks
Design Concept

Above Forum:
3rd level of
stacks
Design Concept

Above Forum:
4th level of
stacks
Design Concept

Above Forum:
5th level of
stacks
Choice of structural material
Reinforced
Hybrid Steel-
Steel structure Concrete
with four large steel concrete structure structure
trusses supporting the With concrete up to steel With external 16 sloped
third floor of spheroid, trusses beam –column
concealed in the Laterally tied at lower
second floor. three spheroid by post-
tensioned beams.

•Factors influencing the choice of Reinforced Concrete construction

•Increasing rate of steel and extensive use of steel in the truss.

•Reduced flexibility of space at 2

nd level of the spheroid.

•Additional cost of fireproofing the steel.

• High cost of connection at points of intersection of materials and load transfer

Structure: structure configuration
•Main columns and sloped beam-
columns: 3000 psi R.C.C with exposed
rough form board finish
•Floor system up to third level of
spheroid: Standard concrete Pan-joists
•Floor system above third floor: R.C.C
slab and beam systems
•Stair and elevator core: Reinforced

concrete stone aggregate

•Exterior walls: Poured in place R.C.C
panels.
•The peripheral beams tying the bent
columns: Post tensioned concrete 300
post-tensioning rods of 1/4-inch diameter
high-tensile steel.
Structure: structure configuration
Structure: structure configuration
Structure: structure configuration
Structure: structure configuration
Structure: structure configuration
Structure: structure configuration
Structure: structure configuration
Structure: structure configuration
Structure: Columns
Structure: Vertical loading
Exterior column loads in the tower 2400k-2475k
Interior column loads in tower 700k-800k
Column loads not in tower 150k-200k
Structure: Vertical loading
Structure: Vertical loading
Structure: Vertical loading
Structure: Vertical loading
Structure: Lateral loading
Structure: Roof System
Two way floor system
Diaphragm – cast in place
Construction
•Construction began in 1968.
•The center of the core was left

open for placement of

construction crane
•The lower two levels were built
first to act as a base for the
scaffolding for formwork of the
floors above .
•The scaffolding was not
removed until top floor was
finished till 1969.
•This was done since post-

tensioning in the lower floors

and peripheral beams at lower
floors of the spheroid could not
be executed correctly until the
upper floors were constructed.
•In 1970, Building was in full

operation.
Post-tensioning
•The nature of the loads causes the sloped beam columns to overturn outside.
Hence, the peripheral beams tying these columns are post tensioned .
•Post-tensioning helps in designing an larger effective section in order to resist
deflections. The ultimate strength of a post-tensioned beam is not overly superior
to that of a similarly proportioned plain R.C.C beam. In a post-tensioned beam no
tensile stresses are developed and hence no cracks develop.
Structure: soil & foundation

Shallow layer of sand/clay/silt over siltstone and sandstone

Concrete spread footings and caissons established in

bedrock

Boring is much deeper where site is backfilled and where

there is an existing fault line
Structure: soil & foundation

Variations in soil and boring depth cause differential settling

The structural tower was built before the non-tower portion

was completed and prior to rigid connections to allow for pre-
settling
Structure: seismic loads

Sysmmetrical dead and live loads

Structure: seismic loads

Pereira planned for symmetrical

dead and live loads to decrease
the chance for destructive
torsion

Expansion joints allow

independent movement