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North End Branch Public Library

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1965, Carl Koch and Associates. 25 Parmenter St.
  • North End Branch Public Library (Keith Morgan)

Set into the core of a block of taller brick tenements, the one-story North End Branch Public Library is a surprise within its neighborhood. Mindful of the predominantly Italian origin of neighborhood residents, the architect ornamented the library's brick exterior with colored-glass tiles, although they seem more Pre-Columbian than Italian in inspiration. He designed the interior as a courtyard, paved with stone and marked by plantings and a pool. A white marble bas-relief memorial to Dante by Luciano Campise was brought here from the previous branch library at 3A N. Bennet Street (1913). Lit by a clerestory, this simulated garden space is covered by concrete roof paraboloids supported on nine columns.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
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Data

What's Nearby

Moses Pierce–Hichborn House
Mariner's House
Paul Revere House
Paul Revere Housing Cooperative
Nazzaro Community Center (North Bennet Street Bathhouse)

Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "North End Branch Public Library", [Boston, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-NE5.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Massachusetts

Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston, Keith N. Morgan, with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed, and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, 90-90.

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