University of California Los Angeles, Powell Library, Westwood, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA

Significance: Of the four core buildings of the UCLA campus historic district, the 1927-1929 Powell Library, designed by George Kelham, was the first campus building constructed. It is northern Italian Romaneque in style (or "Lombardesque") and is one of the fine campus buildings. "The library contains one of the best interiors in the style" and "especially impressive is the interior of the dome of the Main Reading Room" (Gebhard and Winter 1994:117). The designer of this painted caisson ceiling and dome was acclaimed muralist (and watercolorist) Julian Ellsworth Garnsey (1887-1969). The Reading Room ceiling with its Moorish dome - the specific subject of study here - is considered one of the significant features of northern Italian Romanesque style as represented in California.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N906
Survey number: HABS CA-2678-A
Building/structure dates: 1927-1929 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: after 1994 Subsequent Work