MCM PANELS HELP CRAFT SCULPTURAL FAÇADE AND UNIQUE INTERIOR FOR THE EXPANDED FAR ROCKAWAY LIBRARY

Helping to bring architect Snøhetta and artist Jose Parlá's vision to life for the expanded 18,000 square-foot Far Rockaway Library, prismatic metal composite panels in the shape of trapezoids decorate the library’s interior and exterior in Queens.

Prismatic Series ALPOLIC MCM panels wrap around the building's corners and complement a large A-shaped mural crafted by Parlá. The artist’s mural was digitized and encased in colored glass, presenting a "Style Writing" half architecture, half canvas facade. Parlá selected hues of yellow and orange to best represent the colors of sunrise off the Long Island coast.

Snøhetta specified the MCM panels in MRT Prismatic Red and SAW White finishes. The mica flakes in the prismatic panels present shifting colors depending on the time of day and the angle of viewing. The panels gel with the artwork on the mural, adding depth and texture to the exterior and mirroring the mural's dynamic nature. MCM was also installed on the baffle ceiling over the atrium.

The orange metal fins over the concrete staircase energize the space with a strong pop of color and blends with the yellow-orange glazing and dichroic glass on the second-floor perimeter, which shifts the filtering sunlight into a cascade of colors. This second-floor location also features an art installation titled "Feynman diagrams," written in a code based on the work of Far Rockaway-born physicist Richard Feynman.