Building

A building or edifice is a structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of shapes, sizes and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for a wide number of factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, to land prices, ground conditions, specific uses and aesthetic reasons. To better understand the term building compare the list of nonbuilding structures.

Buildings serve several needs of society – primarily as shelter from weather, security, living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work. A building as a shelter represents a physical division of the human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) and the outside (a place that at times may be harsh and harmful).

Ever since the first cave paintings, buildings have also become objects or canvasess of artistic expression. In recent years, interest in sustainable planning and building practices has also become an intentional part of the design process of many new buildings.

Buildings 1992

Buildings 1992 is a public art work by American artist Susan Walsh, located on the northwest side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The architectural sculpture was created for the Milwaukee Fire Department station at the intersection of 103rd Street and Fond du Lac Avenue.

Description

Buildings 1992 depicts the frames of four tall, rectangular buildings. Each building has two doors at its base. Two of the buildings have triangular roofs. One has an arched roof. The entire work rests on a square concrete base.

References

Library

A library is a collection of sources of information and similar resources, made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or digital access to material, and may be a physical building or room, or a virtual space, or both. A library's collection can include books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, films, maps, prints, documents, microform, CDs, cassettes, videotapes, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, e-books, audiobooks, databases, and other formats. Libraries range in size from a few shelves of books to several million items. In Latin and Greek, the idea of bookcase is represented by Bibliotheca and Bibliothēkē (Greek: βιβλιοθήκη): derivatives of these mean library in many modern languages, e.g. French bibliothèque.

The first libraries consisted of archives of the earliest form of writing—the clay tablets in cuneiform script discovered in Sumer, some dating back to 2600 BC. Private or personal libraries made up of written books appeared in classical Greece in the 5th century BC. In the 6th century, at the very close of the Classical period, the great libraries of the Mediterranean world remained those of Constantinople and Alexandria.

Library (UTA station)

Library is a light rail station in Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States serviced by the Red Line of the Utah Transit Authority's (UTA) TRAX light rail system. The Red Line provides service from the University of Utah to the Daybreak Community of South Jordan.

Description

The station is located at 225 East 400 South (East University Boulevard/SR-186), with the island platform being in the median of 400 South. It is situated immediately north of the main Salt Lake City Public Library building and northwest of the Salt Lake City and County Building. Library is the last eastbound station within the Free Fare Zone in Downtown Salt Lake City. Transportation patrons that both enter and exit bus or TRAX service within the Zone can ride at no charge. As part of the UTA's Art in Transit program, the station features cast bronze books and etched glass windscreens created by Gregg LeFevre entitled By Its Cover. Unlike most TRAX stations, Library does not have a Park and Ride lot. The station is part of a railway right of way that was created specifically for the former University Line. The station was opened on 15 December 2001 as part of the University Line and is operated by the Utah Transit Authority.

Library (PAT station)

Library is a station on the Port Authority of Allegheny County's light rail network, located in the Library neighborhood of South Park, Pennsylvania. It is the southern terminus of the Library branch of the Blue Line. A 430 space park and ride lot is located on the premises, drawing travelers from both South Park and Pittsburgh's suburbs in Washington County, located just to the south. Despite the station's name there is no lending library near the train station, in the past many riders have been confused into thinking there was an actual library there.

History

The Pittsburgh Railways interurban line from Charleroi to Pittsburgh was opened through South Park on September 12, 1903, with passengers changing at Castle Shannon to continue their journey to Downtown via the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad. It was cut back to Library in 1953, with a turnaround loop for the single-ended PCC's that operated on the line. In the late 1980s, new light rail vehicles began to use the line. These new cars had larger, articulated bodies, and were thus unable to negotiate the loop. Moreover, these cars were double-ended, eliminating the need for such turn-around facilities. In 2004, the loop was removed and a new, larger station was built to better accommodate the light rail cars.