Low Library Administration Building

 heritage, Neoclassical (architecture), NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, 1895_construction, movie / film / TV location, U.S. National Historic Landmark

Low Library was constructed in 1895 by Columbia’s 12th president, Seth Low, in honor of his father, Abiel Abbot Low. The Low Memorial Library was designed by Mckim, Mead & White with structural elements by the Guastavino Fireproof Tile Co. as the architectural center of the Morningside Heights Campus. Low’s general architectural style is based on the Pantheon in Rome and the Parthenon in Greece. Designed in the form of a Greek cross, it is crowned by the largest all-granite dome in North America (105 feet high and 70 feet across).

When Low Library opened in 1897, visitors could enjoy a magical, artificial moonlight show every Friday night between 5 and 7. Hanging from the center of the domed ceiling over the Rotunda reading room was a 7-foot-in-diameter sphere, made out of wood, painted matte white, and weighing almost 500 pounds. Hidden in the upstairs galleries were a number of spotlights aimed at the wooden globe. Like the Moon, the sphere would reflect the light and illuminate the galleries without casting shadows. This lighting system was engineered by Physics Professor William Hallock.

The interior of the building consists of Irish, Italian and Istrian marble. The columns that separate the rotunda from the corridor are of solid green marble brought from Ireland. In the entranceway stands a white marble bust of Pallas Athene (Athena), which was modeled after the Minerve du Collier in the Louvre. The twelve signs of the zodiac, which represent knowledge, surround her. Bronze busts of Zeus and Apollo flank the entrance. Located just inside the entrance to Low are the trustees’s boardroom and the university Visitor’s Center with salvaged zodiac symbols from the Chicago World's Fair which were selected by the McKim firm to be salvaged and installed as part of the building.

Today, Low Library houses the Office of the President, as well as other administrative offices. In 1967, it was landmarked by the city of New York. It was actually used as the university’s library until 1934, when Butler was completed. The rotunda was originally the University’s main reading room, but today is used as a venue to award honorary degrees and important academic distinctions. The Pulitzer Prizes, for example, are awarded annually in Low’s rotunda.

The university, and this library in particular, have been the filming location for many movies. Scenes from "Ghostbusters" were filmed here (the opening title shot was filmed from the library looking across the courtyard), as were scenes in the Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen film "New York Minute".

In 2019, the foyer and south ambulatory were restored by EverGreene Architectural Arts.

www.wikicu.com/Low_Library
archive.org/details/national-register-of-historic-place...
s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0304.pdf
s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1118.pdf
www-jstor-org.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/stable/989104?se...
archive.org/details/officialguidetoc00colu/page/16/mode...
blogs.cul.columbia.edu/rbml/2020/05/26/low-library-furn...
blogs.cul.columbia.edu/rbml/2020/04/27/low-library-dome...
www.college.columbia.edu/cct/sites/default/files/pdf/CC...
digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/9653ad40-5102-0134-4c...
cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15281co...
evergreene.com/projects/columbia-university-low-library...