Civic Center Library-Imagination Give Us Wings

Photos by Lisa E White

"Imagination give us wings" by Larry Kirkland welcomes you to this architectural beauty, the Civic Center Library near Scottsdale Old Town.  The bird-shaped oculus in the roof allows this bright bird to fly across the entry as the sun crosses the sky.  The twenty-foot feather suspended below it looks like it has fallen from the bird, yet is poised as if ready to dip into an inkwell from below.  Known for his distinctive Southwestern style, architect Bennie Gonzales designed this library, City Hall, and the Performing Arts Center as well as the Heard Museum in Phoenix.  He was one of the first two graduates from ASU's fledgling architecture program.  If you visit Civic Center Library, go upstairs to the Scottsdale Room which houses books, maps, and photographs of early Scottsdale.  The interior, especially the Knowasis Teen Center and Medieval Children's Room deserve their own blog another day.