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NYU’s attempt to prevent suicides by wrapping its beautiful library atrium in a bizarre aluminum veil got a big ‘F’ yesterday from students and alumni.
“It’s depressing. It’s just a painful reminder of the suicides that happened when I went here,” said Mable Ivory, a 1998 grad who uses the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library for research.
“It forces you to acknowledge why it needs to be here in the first place.”
The library has been the site of three suicides since 2003 — and now the atrium is being encased in 20-foot-tall, gold-colored panels decorated with random patterns of rectangles.
“Why does NYU’s library look like a matrix prison that belongs in Gotham city?” asked Twitter user “Squarah.”
“Tony andrews” tweeted that “the new suicide prevention enclosure reminds me of a Catholic confession booth.”
The suicide shield replaces 8-foot-high plexiglass barriers on each floor, which were ineffective in preventing the last suicide, in November 2009.
“It doesn’t look great; that’s for sure. It kind of takes away from the rest of the room,” said Vincent Persaud, 23, a sophomore business major. “It would be ideal to not have anything there, but it’s better than plexiglass.”
School spokesman John Beckman did not refer to the suicides in describing the library makeover.
“The aluminum screens are part of NYU’s efforts to improve the functionality of the library,” he said.
“The screens are compatible with the iconic interior designed by [architect Philip Johnson] in 1968 and are inspired by decorative grillwork used by Johnson and his peers in other atrium environments.”
Biology grad student Luyong Lou, 25, was worried about acoustics.
“It allows more noise to go through; that’s the downside,” he said, adding that he was with holding judgment on the aesthetics.
Lucy Nussbaum, 24, a junior, said that students understand the need for the preventative measures, but that, “hopefully, it will look nicer when it’s done.”
The installation, however, is getting unequivocal praise from suicide-prevention experts and architecture critics alike.
“I think it enhances, not just because of the suicide prevention. To evoke a sense of the digital century through a beautiful curtain is ingenious and remarkable,” said Rick Bell, executive director of the American Institute of Architects’ New York chapter.
The aluminum bars in the panel are set about four inches apart and allow natural light to filter through. The stairs, too, will be covered with the panels designed by the Manhattan firm Joel Sanders Architect.
But most important is that the design will prevent jumpers, said Alan Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology.
“NYU should be applauded for placing the value of life above all else and still maintaining, as best as possible, the aesthetics of the building,” he said.