Folger Shakespeare Library Washington DC
The Folger Shakespeare Library, which houses the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, was re-opened in June 2024 after a four-year renovation headed up by the Philadelphia-based architects, Kieran Timberlake, transforming its historic home on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.
For the first time, all 82 copies of the Folger’s First Folios, the first published collection of all Shakespeare’s plays (of which there are only 235 copies still in existence around the world), printed in 1623, are displayed together in one showcase.
The library was established by Henry and Emily Folger, Gilded Age philanthropists who spent their oil fortune obsessively collecting First Folios and rare Shakespeare materials. The original building designed by Philip Cret, was opened in 1932. Most of the Folger’s holdings—which includes some 277,000 books and 60,000 manuscripts—had been housed in a vast underground storage facility. To share more of its treasured hoard with the public, the library has created new galleries, adding 12,000 feet of public space underneath the Great Hall and library.
Luke Hughes Designs are responsible for the new furniture in the re-vamped Reading Room, Council Room and other public areas, a project which must be one of the most prestigious and the most stimulating for the team at Luke Hughes Designs.
It joins other library projects for Yale University’s Sterling Library, British Library, Oxford’s Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, the London Library, UK Supreme Court Library, the Scottish Supreme Court, Selwyn College, Christ Church Law Library, libraries at Oundle, Bedford, Highgate and Harrow Schools as well as for Keystone Academy in Beijing.
https://kierantimberlake.com/page/folger-shakespeare-libraryPrizes
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