stocks its books within concrete cubes that seem to hover in the overall six-storey space. Suspended between them are concrete platforms that accommodate the openshelf areas and the reading places. The internal surfaces of the building are painted black to facilitate concentrated studies within the extensive, interflowing spaces.
Photo: Jan Bitter
Photo: © Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
The Philological Library (pictured left), opened in 2005, is the latest addition to the campus of the Free University of Berlin. Designed by the architect Norman Foster, it merges wall and roof to create the shape of a human brain, and uses shading and natural ventilation to manage temperature and daylight. The library has become the centrepiece of the University’s Dahlem campus and a Berlin architectural landmark. It holds 700,000 volumes.
environmentally-friendly library of the future. The gently curving green roof, made of grass, absorbs water and provides thermal insulation. The solar panels and recycled materials aim to save energy and resources. The design team hoped to create a facility that would be a dynamic teaching tool for green design and promote environmental awareness.
The Ballard Library and Neighbourhood Service Centre in Seattle is a public library that opens to the street and can be seen as a model for the
Created in 2004 and described by the architects responsible as a “new, massive library cube”, the University library in Utrecht, Netherlands
The Saltire Centre, Glasgow Caledonian University, was designed to provide users with a variety of different spaces, from noisy social interaction areas for group work to places for silent study. It is described as a flexible building at the heart of the campus that reflects the beliefs of its University in dialogue, debate, and differences in learning styles.
Photo: David Barbour
Beautiful and Visionary Buildings
New Bodleian: “From a book fortress to an open and inspiring space” Oxford University’s Bodleian Libraries have secured planning permission for the renovation of the New Bodleian library, to be re-opened as the Weston Library in 2015. Oxford University Press has contributed £25 million to help renovate this space, meeting the amount that the Garfield Weston Foundation also contributed. “The work will transform the library from a book fortress into an inviting and inspiring space for visitors and readers” said Sarah Thomas, Bodley’s Librarian. The project will expand public access through a glass frontage, a large entrance hall, and new exhibition galleries, making Broad Street in central Oxford more welcoming. Exhibitions already attract 100,000 visitors a year and the new space should increase that number. Richard Ovenden, Associate Director and Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian Libraries, said: “Wilkinson Eyre Architects has created a stunning design that respects the building’s heritage while at the same time modernizing our infrastructure and providing better facilities for students and researchers, as well as greater opportunities for collaboration with and outreach to the wider community.”
“The shift from collection to connection” Olaf Eigenbrodt, Library Sociologist at Hamburg University, talked to Illuminea about the latest trends in library buildings and functions. Can you explain your concept of the “living room” library? It is all about comfort, safety, and identification. The living room (or the German Wohnzimmer which is much more like a parlour) is the part of the middle-class dwelling which is open for visitors and guests. It is also a family room. Both aspects - the cosy (or, in German, gemütlich) lounge and the representative meeting
place - are crucial for libraries as places between or beyond the public and private sphere. What is the role of the library in the digital age: as a resource and as a space? Resources libraries are not exclusive institutions for the supply of information any more. They continue to be important places for information storage and retrieval but the aspect of knowledge production is becoming more and more crucial. After the shift from collection to connection there is another one from connection to communication, which means the involvement of people, their
activities, and their individual needs concerning interfaces, networks, and intellectual access to information. The library as a space needs to offer infrastructure and environments for self-paced lifelong learning. The production of knowledge, either individual or in groups, requires a great variety of spaces. Unexpected discoveries and encounters (with information and people) are desirable in such places. But at the same time the library is a space for the management of contingency in a rapidly changing society. It offers safe and quiet places where people can slow down and think.
What are the big trends in library architecture? After two or three decades of functional open-plan buildings looking almost the same, architects and librarians have been thinking about library buildings in a new way since the 1990s. The main trends are: iconic buildings (with the “wow factor”), multi-functionality, multimedia environments, new emphasis on interior design (with lounges playing a big part), increased collaboration between public and academic libraries, and sustainability.
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