Iwan Baan
  • Photography
  • Books
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • About
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
Beinecke Library Yale University – SOM

Beinecke Library Yale University – SOM

1963

Cloaked in a luminous shell of translucent marble, the Beinecke Library houses one of the world’s most significant collections of rare books and manuscripts. Designed by Gordon Bunshaft of SOM, the Modernist structure stands in stark contrast to Yale’s surrounding Gothic and revivalist architecture.

At the heart of the building, a glass tower displays treasured volumes in a climate-controlled core, dramatically lit by the filtered glow of the marble façade. The structure’s bold design—once controversial—has since become an icon of 20th-century architecture, celebrated for balancing monumentality with delicacy, and preservation with public accessibility.

Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite

Tags:

  • Library,
  • New Haven,
  • SOM Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP,
  • United States of America,
  • and University

Other projects tagged with Library, New Haven, SOM Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, United States of America and University

Amant Foundation – SO-IL

Amant Foundation – SO-IL

Paul Milstein Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca USA – OMA, Rem Koolhaas

Paul Milstein Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca USA – OMA, Rem Koolhaas

Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Kanagawa Japan – Junya Ishigami

Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Kanagawa Japan – Junya Ishigami

Olympic Sculpture Park Seattle – Weiss Manfredi

Olympic Sculpture Park Seattle – Weiss Manfredi

Library Espana, Medellin, Colombia – Giancarlo Mazzanti

Library Espana, Medellin, Colombia – Giancarlo Mazzanti

Upstate House – Christian Wassmann

Upstate House – Christian Wassmann

Qatar National Library – OMA

Qatar National Library – OMA

Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, Brown University – Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, Brown University – Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Frey House – Albert Frey

Frey House – Albert Frey

Olympic Sculpture Park – Weiss Manfredi

Olympic Sculpture Park – Weiss Manfredi

Powerhouse Arts – Herzog & de Meuron

Powerhouse Arts – Herzog & de Meuron

Gifu Media Cosmos, Gifu, Japan – Toyo Ito

Gifu Media Cosmos, Gifu, Japan – Toyo Ito

  • Home
  • Portfolio
  • Beinecke Library Yale University – SOM

Iwan Baan Photography, Rozenstraat 145, 1016 NP Amsterdam, The Netherlands, e-mail: studio@iwan.com — all images © Iwan Baan 1996 - 2025