Library designed by Alfred Kastner, undated

Kastner was one of the European-trained architects who brought the International Style of design to the United States during the 1920s where it spread to become the dominant tendency in American architecture. This stark design style had clean lines and uncluttered interior spaces. It grew out (1) a dissatisfaction with mixed decorative elements from different architectural periods and styles that bore little relation to a building’s functions, (2) a rapidly industrializing society that required the economical creation of large numbers of commercial, residential, and civic structures, and (3) the development of new building technologies centering on the use of iron, steel, reinforced concrete, and glass.