Odegaard Undergraduate Library, University library in Red Square, Seattle, United States.
Odegaard Undergraduate Library is a university library on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, built in a brutalist style with heavy concrete walls and angular forms. The building spreads across several floors, each offering study areas, computer workstations, and book collections aimed at undergraduate students.
The library opened in 1972 as part of a broader expansion of the university campus, reflecting the interest in exposed concrete and bold geometric forms that defined architecture of that period. A major interior renovation completed in 2013 updated the layout and technology without altering the concrete shell.
The library is named after Charles Odegaard, a former university president known for opening higher education to a broader public. That spirit is still felt today, as students from every department sit side by side at shared tables and workstations.
Access to the building is reserved for university students and requires a valid student ID card. Visitors who want to see the exterior can do so freely from Red Square, as the building opens onto the plaza on several sides.
The library runs a technology lending program where students can borrow laptops, cameras, and other devices for their coursework, which is less obvious from the outside than the book collections. This turns the building into a practical resource for hands-on projects as much as for reading and research.
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