Poetry Foundation

Location
Chicago, Illinois

Owner
Poetry Foundation

Team
Acoustics and AV - Threshold
Architect - John Ronan Architects

Status
Completed 2011

Size
26,000 square feet

Tracing its origins to 1941, The Poetry Foundation was established in 2003 when the Modern Poetry Association received a transformational gift from philanthropist Ruth Lilly. The Foundation publishes Poetry magazine, and seeks to discover, sponsor, and celebrate poetry while touching the widest possible audience. Its new headquarters in Chicago houses its curatorial, publishing, and online staff as well as an extensive library.

Its most public space is a 125-seat Reading Room with superb acoustics for speech and sufficient flexibility to serve as a beloved venue for small amplified and unamplified music performances and events. We addressed these sometimes conflicting uses seamlessly by shaping a geometric space that makes it easy for poets and musicians to communicate.

A continuous bank of bookshelves originates in the library and winds through the entire project, a primary architectural and organizational element that also serves as a device for controlling the acoustics of the open office areas. The glass-clad library and reading room look onto a courtyard with surfaces and landscaping that extend past the facade and into the building, diminishing the visual boundaries between interior and courtyard. The glass also separates the reading room from two busy urban streets and renders the neighboring Fire Station inaudible.