South Bay : Architects Give Award to Library’s Maligned Sculpture

“Stellar Axis” has taken on a more heavenly spin in the eyes of architects.

For weeks the brunt of vocal criticism tagging it as a monument to the inane, the $150,000 conceptual spear skewering four floors of the newly refurbished central library on the Palos Verdes Peninsula has won an important group of supporters.

A panel of three area architects cited the sculpture as one of the reasons they presented the library with one of 12 awards of merit recently given to buildings in south Los Angeles County by the Cabrillo Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

The library was one of 54 entries in the architecture contest. Jurors especially praised the building for its “qualities of light, color, space and sequence exhibited in every detail.”

Piercing a 13-foot rooftop tower of plexiglass and steel, “Stellar Axis” became a lightning rod in recent elections to the library district board. Three victorious candidates campaigned against it as an example of what they termed wasteful spending in the $19-million make-over of the facility.

The cost aside, new board member John Dixon called the work aesthetically “ridiculous.”

Dixon could not be reached for comment on the award, which was presented 10 days after he won his seat on the five-member board.

The building was submitted for contest consideration Sept. 6 by the architecture firm that oversaw the remodeling.

“Obviously, we’re extremely excited about the award,” said Debra Barbour of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership. . . .