His Holiness the Great 14th Dalai Lama Library & Learning Center

HOLT Architects had the honor of designing a Library and Learning Center for His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Located in Ithaca, New York, the intent of the Library & Learning Center is for education, outreach, religious ceremonies, and academic presentations. The library includes a reception and reading room, The Great Hall, used for Thangka storage and events, and a small exhibit space for the Dalai Lama.

Our work with the Namgyal Monastery began several years prior with the goal to help them develop options for the Dalai Lama Library and Learning Center, select a concept to move forward with, provide them with the visuals they would need to conduct fundraising for the project, and then finalize the design once the financing was in place.

While the building itself is designed to combine traditional Tibetan Buddhist architecture with contemporary design, materials, and concepts, the reading room is imbued with many traditional Tibetan motifs. Traditional hand painted and symbolic elements are throughout the reading room and great hall, as well as traditional materials and colors indicative of the prayer flags that are so common in the Himalayas.