Peering into the Geode

"It's important that you spend a lot of time getting to know the space you're in when taking architectural photography." This is a graphic collection of a library hidden within the skyscrapers of Downtown Los Angeles, where I spent weeks and hours inside and outside, waiting for the golden sun to hit it at the right time, or waiting for the beautiful blue dusk to arrive. Glancing at the exterior, the library is shelled with a dull beige stucco, windows are scratched with graffiti, people walk by without batting an eye. From indoors, while I stood from atop the waterfall of escalators, the room takes on a warmer and welcoming tone. But one day, I felt like I missed something. What does the interior look like from the outside? I searched for an opening to peer into, only to find something completely different. Beyond the fogged-up glass and the scribbles of Los Angeles, I saw an aquarium. It was an aquatic ecosystem of books and its readers, travelers who wandered throughout in search of a place of respite, and schools of young fish on field trips.