Knight Library

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name = Knight Library
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caption = Detail of north facade.
location = Eugene, Oregon
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built = 1937
architect = Ellis F. Lawrence
architecture = Lombardic Romanesque, Art Deco
added = 1990
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refnum = 90000370
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governing_body = University of Oregon

Knight Library is the main facility of the University of Oregon's library system, located on the University's campus in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Its design is emblematic of the architecture of the University's older buildings, and it serves as a hub of student activity.

Construction and history

The building was opened in 1937 to replace the original library building (the "Old Libe," Fenton Hall, completed in 1907), which the University's collections had outgrown. Construction of the library was financed as a Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, spearheaded by Oregon senator Frederick Steiwer (R. - Ore. 1931-1933) and took more than two years to complete. "The New Libe" as the "Oregon Daily Emerald" student newspaper had christened the building, was designed by Ellis F. Lawrence of the Oregon-based architectural firm Lawrence, Holford, and Allyn. Lawrence was also a driving force in much of the core architecture of the U of O campus and was the first Dean of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. The rich architecture of the building reflects an Art Deco aesthetic with "modernized Lombardy and Greco-Roman" elements as well as many integrated artistic embellishments including "the fifteen stone heads by Edna Dunberg and Louise Utter Pritchard, ornamental memorial gates by O. B. Dawson, carved wooden panels by Arthur Clough, and two large murals painted by Albert and Arthur Runquist." [http://libweb.uoregon.edu/knight/history.html]

Three major renovations of the library, in 1950, 1966, and again in 1994, have kept the building up-to-date and it is a daily hub of learning and research to University of Oregon's more than 20,000 students. 1994's $27 million renovation added 132,000 square feet (12,000 m²) to the building. The project was partially funded by Phil Knight, U of O alumnus and cofounder of athletic shoe company Nike, Inc.. The library was renamed Knight Library in honor of Mr. Knight's family.

Inscriptions

The original part of the library (the 1937 section), designed by Lawrence, contains inscriptions along the tops of each of seven large windows on the main (north) facade. These read, "Philosophia," "Historia," "Religio," "Ars," "Natura," "Societas," and "Litterae," and are meant to represent (in Latin), the seven major disciplines contained in the library's collection.

Above the main entry doors (also on the north facade), is a passage from the Bible (John 8:32), which proclaims, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

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References

* [http://libweb.uoregon.edu/knight/history.html University of Oregon - Knight Library History]
* [http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/architecture/oregon/library.html Knight Library, Architecture of the University of Oregon: A History, Bibliography, and Research Guide]