Roxbury Branch Library Wall Graphics

Utile designed two large wall graphics as part of the Roxbury Branch Library renovation. A nature scene mural wraps around the curved, three-sided children’s story space. Plants, animals, and bugs from around New England inhabit the mural which spans land and sea. A deer and moose browse through bookshelves in a pine forest. while a reading raccoon peeks out from behind a tree. In the desert plains beyond the forest, wolves, snakes, and bison take their turn looking through the stacks. The desert plateau dives into the sea where a blue whale waves “hello” and a squid hangs ten without even having to put down its favorite book.

Outside of the children’s story space, Utile designed a color gradient wall covering that doubles as a wayfinding device. Upon close inspection, what looks like a smooth gradient from the purple, young adults’ section to the blue, teens’ section, to the green, children’s section is revealed to be a jumble of thousands of little letters acting as pixels. The green letters from the children’s section increase in density until they become a solid green color that forms the grass in the story space’s pine forest. The letter’s aren’t lost. They carry on in the story space mural where they add texture to the sky.

Photos by Anton Grassl and Randy Crandon