| Height | 180 feet |
|---|---|
| Floors | 15 |
| Year | 1971 |
About Brown University Science Library
The Sciences Library, nicknamed the "SciLi", at Brown University is a high-rise building in Providence, Rhode Island built in 1971. At 180 feet (55 m), it is tied with One Citizens Plaza as the 13th-tallest building in the city. The building houses Brown University's primary on-campus collections for the physical sciences. Completed in the Brutalist architectural style, the building is Brown University's primary science library. Faced with the desire for rigorous expansion but little real estate available, the school's solution was the creation of the first high-rise library in the world. Clashing with late nineteenth century and early twentieth century colonial revival houses and abutting street-level shopping on Thayer Street, the Science Library is often seen as an imposing and obtrusive addition to College Hill. Architectural historian McKenzie Woodward condemns the building as "overwhelm[ing] everything around it", even comparing it to a Soviet-era Panelák when viewed from its "all-too-many distant viewing perspectives". In 2006, the first and second floors and the basement of the Sciences Library underwent extensive renovations and were transformed into the Susan P.