Firestone’s third-floor reading room
Courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

Firestone’s third-floor reading room
Firestone’s third-floor reading room
Courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections
Courtesy John Nava

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections

When Firestone Library’s third-floor faculty lounge was reconceived as a reading room as part of the library’s 12-year renovation project, University architects and library officials wanted to replace its imposing but fragile antique Belgian tapestry. California artist John Nava, right, was commissioned to design a new tapestry, and he proposed a design that “would represent the breadth of the library’s collections,” according to James Wallace of Princeton’s Office of Design and Construction. The result is a collage representing objects from the library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

“The library is the heart of a university — a literal monument to a vast storehouse of collected human civilization,” Nava said in an email. “To particularize this idea in terms of Princeton, I wanted to fabricate the tapestry entirely out of elements from the Firestone collections and the architecture of the building.”

Nava visited campus several times and toured the library’s special collections to assemble the elements for the tapestry. After processing the images on a computer, Nava traveled to Belgium, where a custom palette of fiber and color was developed and the 17.3-by-16-foot tapestry was woven.

Images below courtesy Princeton University Library Rare Books and Special Collections