ARCHITECT chatted with one of the architects slated to renovate Mies van der Rohe's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.
By Sara Johnson
Last month, the District of Columbia Public Library system selected Dutch firm Mecanoo Architecten and Washington, D.C.–based firm Martinez+Johnson Architecture to renovate the capital's central library, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library—a 1972 building designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The library has suffered from decades of neglect and deferred maintenance. Now, in addition to a renovation, it may also get a new mixed-use addition, rooftop gardens, and other features. Mecanoo's founding partner and creative director, Francine Houben, Hon. FAIA, spoke to ARCHITECT about the team's plans for the only library that Mies ever designed.