
New York City-based architect David Katz has been nominated for the Presidential Medal of Arts, a lifetime achievement award, for his work on the beach interior of the New York Public Library.
Katz is nominated for his innovative designs for the New Orleans Public Library’s public library.
“My work on this project has always been about what is happening on the waterfront, and it has always seemed like a great place to be working on this.
It is a wonderful place to work,” Katz said in a statement.
Katz has designed the Library’s main lobby, the main library building, and a series of smaller spaces, including a library cafe and library cafe lounge.
“The idea is that you get a sense of what the city looks like when it is full of people,” Katz told the New Yorker last year.
The work is a collaboration between Katz and Brooklyn-based architectural firm Vornado Realty Trust.
“I really wanted to show the connection between the library, the building, the city, and the people,” he said.
The project is a response to New Orleans’ recent hurricanes.
Katz said he started the project in 2016 after Hurricane Katrina.
“In retrospect, I thought, OK, if we had a hurricane that was not as bad as Katrina, then we could try to do this thing again,” he told the Times.
“We had the chance to really make the Library as beautiful as possible.”
The Library’s new interior design has been praised by both New York magazine and Slate Magazine, as well as by some of the Library District’s patrons.
The new design has become a favorite among library patrons, who are enjoying the changes in design that include more natural light, larger bookshelves, and better-looking spaces.
Katz and his team worked with the Library of Congress to redesign the library’s front desk and offices.
“As the public library, we were trying to figure out how to create a design that was going to allow the Library to be the focal point for the community,” Katz explained.
“It’s about creating a place where people come and leave the building.
It’s about what’s happening at the waterfront and the city.”