In an inscrutable, poorly written editorial, which ran Tuesday May 18 in The Seattle Times, the paper suggested that the library board should pick an architect for the new downtown library based not on his "big name" or to create "buzz-for-its-own-sake," but should instead "pick someone with a powerful artistic vision, a sense of the practical, an ability to connect with the soul of the city, and a sense of fun." The paper went on to suggest the board pick New York architect Steven Holl over Rotterdam firm OMA, led by Rem Koolhaas. The library board seems to have followed the Times' criteria, along with some better principles concerning the architects' abilities to work well with their clients and deliver buildings within their budgets. Still, they picked Koolhaas over Holl, unanimously. Why? Because Koolhaas' buildings simply worked better than Holl's, as the board discovered when they visited Holl's Kiasma contemporary art museum in Helsinki, and several OMA buildings across Europe two weeks ago. As far as practical matters, Holl's Chapel of St. Ignatius cost almost twice as much to build, on a cost-per-square-foot basis, than any building OMA's built. Hooray for the board, which will now be accused of having chosen a big name for buzz's sake, but which has really made the best decision for all the right reasons.

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It's looking less likely that Mike Kelley's Pay for Your Pleasure will be shown at CoCA. The 10-year-old installation, which was dropped from next year's schedule at SAM after a media uproar, was suggested for inclusion in CoCA's upcoming Dusk show. That show's curators, De Kwok and Kim Collmers, don't think it would fit well with the other work already planned for the show. Now CoCA will look at other options, but several hurdles--like its far-in-advance planning of shows, its too-many-cooks programming committee, and the requirement that CoCA purchase a serial killer's art to include in the installation--will all work against a quick decision to show the work. Interestingly, the last condition isn't a sticking point because it makes CoCA give money to a killer, but because CoCA doesn't acquire art or hold a collection, and thus doesn't have acquisition funds ready to give to any such killer.

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Another column, another art space closing: The newest victim is Project 416, the best, broadest, and most consistent alternative space in town. Last week, Walter Wright, who runs the 10,000-square-foot studio gallery, received a 30-day notice to vacate. He'd expected such a notice to arrive at some point, since the space had been on a month-to-month lease since last September. The whole building, which also held a frame shop and a wood shop, is being cleared for new tenants. The gallery's current show, featuring collage-based painters Lance Thornton and Stefan Knorr, is thus also its final one.

Project 416 offered about 25 studios at 75 cents a square foot--pretty cheap by Seattle standards--so 25 artists are currently looking for new spaces. With the condo and office development bonanza currently going on in Pioneer Square and Belltown, where the studio building at 66 Bell was recently cleared, they're going to have a tough time of it.