Burton Barr Central Library, the flagship location and administrative headquarters of the Phoenix Public Library, is the building rising in front of you. Named for Burton Barr, the Republican Majority Leader in the Arizona House of Representatives from 1966 to 1986, this building houses a collection of 1 million volumes. Funded by a 1988 bond issue, it replaced a nearby 1950s-era facility on McDowell Road that is now part of the Phoenix Art Museum.
The design was a collaboration between DWL Architects and Will Bruder; the five-story building opened in May 1995 and spreads across 280,000 square feet (26,000 m2). Vertical movement is organized around a central open core with three high-speed elevators and a five-level grand staircase known as the "crystal canyon. Look up to see a roof structure inspired by Buckminster Fuller's tensegrity structures, notice the shade sails on the north facade and motorized louvers on the south facade for sun control, and remember that an open, one-acre reading room comprises the fifth floor.
The roof takes its shape from Buckminster Fuller's tensegrity structures, and the crystal canyon staircase spirals down through the core between the shade sails on the north facade and the motorized louvers on the south.