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Design Team : Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries, Wenchian Shi, María López Calleja, Kyosuk Lee, Sen Yang, Marta Pozo, Chi Li, Ray Zhu, Ángel Sánchez Navarro, Daehee Suk, Guang Ruey Tan, Xichen Sun, Michael Zhang, Mariya Gyaurova, Jaime Dominguez Bálgoma, Antonio Luca Coco, Costanza Cuccato, Matteo Artico, Tomaso Maschietti

Concept Design : Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries, Renske van der Stoep, Martine Vledder, Kyosuk Lee, Gerard Heerink, Chi Li, Francisco Pomares, Nicolas Lee, Claudia Bode, Sharon Sin, Jaap Baselmans, Herman Gaarman, Hui Hsin Liao, Antonio Luca Coco, Costanza Cuccato, Matteo Artico, Tomaso Maschietti

Co Architect : Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute (TUPDI)

Text description provided by the architects. MVRDV in collaboration with local architects TUPDI has completed the Tianjin Binhai Library, a 33,700m2 cultural centre featuring a luminous spherical auditorium around which floor-to-ceiling bookcases cascade. The undulating bookshelf is the building's main spatial device, and is used both to frame the space and to create stairs, seating, the layered ceiling and even louvres on the façade. Tianjin Binhai Library was designed and built in a record-breaking time of only three years due to a tight schedule imposed by the local municipality. Next to many media rooms it offers space for 1,2 million books.

The library was commissioned by Tianjin Binhai Municipality and is located in the cultural centre of Binhai district in Tianjin, a coastal metropolis outside Beijing, China. The library, located adjacent to a park, is one of a cluster of five cultural buildings designed by an international cadre of architects including Bernard Tschumi Architects, Bing Thom Architects, HH Design and MVRDV. All buildings are connected by a public corridor underneath a glass canopy designed by GMP. Within the GMP
masterplan MVRDV was given a strict volume within which all design was concentrated.

The building's mass extrudes upwards from the site and is 'punctured' by a spherical auditorium in the centre. Bookshelves are arrayed on either side of the sphere and act as everything from stairs to seating, even continuing along the ceiling to create an illuminated topography. These contours also continue along the two full glass facades that connect the library to the park outside and the public corridor inside, serving as louvres to protect the interior against excessive sunlight whilst also creating a bright and evenly lit interior.

"The Tianjin Binhai Library interior is almost cave-like, a continuous bookshelf. Not being able to touch the building's volume we 'rolled' the ball shaped auditorium demanded by the brief into the building and the building simply made space for it, as a 'hug' between media and knowledge" says Winy Maas, co-founder of MVRDV. "We opened the building by creating a beautiful public space inside; a new urban living room is its centre. The bookshelves are great spaces to sit and at the same time allow for access to the upper floors. The angles and curves are meant to stimulate different uses of the space, such as reading, walking, meeting and discussing. Together they form the 'eye' of the building: to see and be seen."

The five level building also contains extensive educational facilities, arrayed along the edges of the interior and accessible through the main atrium space. Public program is supported by subterranean service spaces, book storage, and a large archive. From the ground floor visitors can easily access reading areas for children and the elderly, the auditorium, the main entrance, terraced access to the floors above and connection to the cultural complex. The first and second floors consist primarily of reading rooms, books and lounge areas whilst the upper floors also include meeting rooms, offices, computer and audio rooms and two roof top patios.

The library is MVRDV's most rapid fast track project to date. It took just three years from the first sketch to the opening. Due to the given completion date site excavation immediately followed the design phase. The tight construction schedule forced one essential part of the concept to be dropped: access to the upper bookshelves from rooms placed behind the atrium. This change was made locally and against MVRDV's advice and rendered access to the upper shelves currently impossible. The full vision for the library may be realised in the future, but until then perforated aluminium plates printed to represent books on the upper shelves. Cleaning is done via ropes and movable scaffolding.

Since its opening on 1 October, 2017 the building has been a great hit in Chinese media and social media; reviews describe it as an 'Ocean of Books' (CCTV) and the 'Most beautiful library of China' (The Bund). Comments on social media call the building a 'sea of knowledge', 'Super Sci-Fi' or simply 'The Eye.' Most importantly, it is clear that the people of Tianjin have embraced the new space - and that it has become the urban living room it was intended to be.

Tianjin Binhai Library was built according to the Chinese Green Star energy efficiency label and has achieved two star status. MVRDV collaborated with Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute (TUPDI), structural engineers Sanjiang Steel Structure Design, TADI interior architects and Huayi Jianyuan lighting design. It is the second realised MVRDV project in Tianjin following TEDA Urban Fabric, completed in 2009.

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Tianjin Binhai Library / MVRDV + Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute

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Design Team : Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries, Wenchian Shi, María López Calleja, Kyosuk Lee, Sen Yang, Marta Pozo, Chi Li, Ray Zhu, Ángel Sánchez Navarro, Daehee Suk, Guang Ruey Tan, Xichen Sun, Michael Zhang, Mariya Gyaurova, Jaime Dominguez Bálgoma, Antonio Luca Coco, Costanza Cuccato, Matteo Artico,

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designboom | architecture & design magazine

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X+living uses black mirror glass to reflect books in chinese library

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the concept is based on the idea of water and how it is the cradle and breeding ground of the yangzhou culture.

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Text description provided by the architects. In Taiyuan IF Center, FAB Cinema collaborated with Zhongshuge to create an innovational cinema experience, and we are invited to design this cross-brand project. Designing a cross-brand space is not simply about mixing features of two brands together. The designer integrated cultural aspects of both brands together organically, using humane sentiments of the bookstore to elevate brand value of the entertainment space, at the same time maximizing both spaces' social features to bring customers a different experience.

On the fifth floor is the ticket office of the cinema, but also the reading hall for Zhongshuge. Concise outline of the bookshelf wall creates a ceremonial reception space, which also weakens the commercial atmosphere of the space. Wooden material with metal cover creates an exquisite feeling. It provides a unique way for audience to kill time before the movie.

In the lecture hall, bookshelves adopt a step-down design and creates an abstract mountain shape, it helps achieve functions such as seats, stairs and displays naturally. The space is not only able to host book related events, but also is the perfect place for hosting various activities regarding movies culture.

After the movie, audiences can grab a cup of hot drink in the café of Zhongshuge and have a chat about the movie they were enjoying. This is an exclusive after party for movie fans. Inspired by the mountain surrounded local landscape, the designer used white triangular geometric shapes to create mountains and formed a cave filled with knowledge.

In the Children's Area, designer used movie related elements such as projector, video recorder and film to create a fun little world, playfully highlights the theme of the place. In the corridor leading to the cinema from the bookstore, designer rearranged the arches in the 10 meters high space and formed a perspective with strong visual impact. The up and down stream traffic flow design cleverly separates the movie viewers from the book readers, preventing them from interfering with each other.

Wood materials used in the project are all Level A fireproof, which not only highlight the aesthetics, but also guarantee safety. The space's fine texture combining with the overall warm tone creates a cultural accumulating atmosphere. The design creates a positive flow for customers in different commercial spaces, it activates a new business model for cinemas, at the same time provides an upgrade of the "retail + entertainment" model for the renaissance of physical bookstores.

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Completed in 2021 in Taiyuan, China. Images by Feng Shao. In Taiyuan IF Center, FAB Cinema collaborated with Zhongshuge to create an innovational cinema experience, and we are invited to design this...

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https://www.archdaily.com.br/br/961911/biblioteca-municipal-nasushiobara-mari-ito-plus-uao

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1. Bolsões florestais 2. Estantes dispersas Mais informações Menos informações 3. Cobertura Leafline
Descrição enviada pela equipe de projeto. Esta biblioteca e centro comunitário está localizada na cidade de Nasushiobara, a cerca de 150 km ao norte de Tóquio. Seu projeto foi premiado em um concurso em 2016. As florestas, uma parte importante da identidade da cidade, inspiraram o projeto. Quando pisamos em uma floresta, sentimos as mudanças sutis mas constantes das estações do ano, no clima e na vida vegetal e animal, absorvendo essas transformações de diversas formas poderosas do ponto de vista emocional.

De maneira análoga, à medida que os visitantes caminham livremente pela biblioteca, eles experimentam camadas de mudanças sutis se desdobrando através de fronteiras definidas de forma suave, desde os aforismos e outras exposições exibidas em vários espaços do edifício até as atividades e outras eventuais transformações causadas pelo homem. Através da estimulação de múltiplos sentidos, o projeto tem o objetivo de despertar novas percepções e aprendizados. O primeiro pavimento é um espaço animado, acessível e repleto de muitas sutilezas entrecruzadas, enquanto o segundo andar proporciona um espaço confortável para se perder na leitura ou na pesquisa. Três características-chave da construção - "bolsões florestais", estantes dispersas e a cobertura leafline - são descritas abaixo.

Os "bolsões florestais" são átrios que se assemelham a pequenas clareiras na floresta, onde o céu se torna visível de repente e a luz se infiltra. Não têm um propósito claramente definido, mas estão disponíveis para eventos comunitários, exposições e outros usos. Sons e vistas escapam para cima e para fora, permitindo que as pessoas em outras partes do edifício percebam a atividade nesses espaços.

As estantes dispersas formam a estrutura de todo o edifício. No primeiro pavimento, as possíveis vistas são filtradas através das divisórias treliçadas que gentilmente dividem o espaço, e dão a sensação de como se se estivesse olhando entre as árvores de uma floresta, criando um panorama interconectado, em constante mudança, de atividades em camadas. No segundo andar, as estantes dispersas formam uma versão real dos gráficos usados no sistema de classificação da biblioteca japonesa, melhorando a capacidade de busca e permitindo rotas de circulação que cortam as pilhas categorizadas.

A leafline é um teto com persianas que cobre todo o interior, modelado a partir do relevo inferior das copas de árvore em uma floresta. As variações de altura na forma poliédrica criam uma série de espaços vagamente divididos e de tamanho variável. A luz filtrada passa através das persianas até o primeiro andar, criando um ambiente de luz variado. O resultado é um espaço interconectado, semelhante a uma floresta, que envolve os visitantes, transformando a paisagem urbana circundante, bem como a atividade diária das pessoas que se reúnem na biblioteca para aprender e participar de eventos, em uma variedade de cenas em constante mudança.

Atualmente não se espera mais que as bibliotecas públicas sirvam apenas como um "terceiro lugar" onde as pessoas possam se reunir, mas também como desencadeadoras do aprendizado vital e da interação que se espalha pela comunidade como capital social, contribuindo para o desenvolvimento da cidade como um todo. A consciência e o conhecimento que os indivíduos ganham nesta "floresta de palavras" retornam aos seus bairros como um poderoso recurso capaz de desencadear mudanças significativas e inspirar uma consciência duradoura na comunidade como um todo. Esses são os ideais que a Biblioteca Municipal de Nasushiobara encarna.

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Biblioteca Municipal Nasushiobara / Mari Ito + UAo

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1. Bolsões florestais 2. Estantes dispersas Mais informações Menos informações 3. Cobertura Leafline Descrição enviada pela equipe de projeto. Esta biblioteca e centro comunitário está localizada na cidade de Nasushiobara, a cerca de 150 km ao norte de Tóquio. Seu projeto foi premiado em um concurso em 2016.

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Text description provided by the architects. Oodi occupies a hugely significant site in central Helsinki: facing the steps of the Finnish parliament building, the Eduskuntatalo across the Kansalaistori square, a public space flanked by major civic institutions.

The siting of Oodi opposite the Eduskuntatalo was chosen to be symbolic of the relationship between the government and the populace, and act as a reminder of the Finnish Library Act's mandate for libraries to promote lifelong learning, active citizenship, democracy and freedom of expression. It also places the new library in the heart of Helsinki's cultural district, close to many of the capital's great institutions.

Oodi has a peaceful open-plan reading room on the upper floor that has been nicknamed "book heaven", but books only fill one third of the space within the library. By reducing on-site storage and consulting library-users on how they access culture, the designers and librarians of Oodi have been able to introduce facilities including a café, restaurant, public balcony, movie theatre, audio-visual recording studios and a makerspace. This is representative of broader experimentation within Finnish libraries to offer new services in addition to loaning books.

The design divides the functions of the library into three distinct levels: an active ground floor that extends the town square into an interior space; "book heaven" on the upper level; and an enclosed in-between volume containing rooms to accommodate additional services and facilities within the library. This spatial concept has been realised by building the library as an inhabited bridge, with two massive steel arches that span over 100 meters to create a fully enclosed, column-free public entrance space, clusters of rooms grouped around the structure, and the open-plan reading room carried above.

Oodi has been built using local materials and with local climate conditions in mind. The timber façade is clad with 33-millimeter-thick Finnish spruce planks that conform to the sweeping curve that extends the building outwards to create a canopy above the Kansalaistori square, blending the interior and exterior spaces and creating shelter for public events in front of the library.

The upper surface of the canopy structure has been used to create a large public terrace, from which Helsinki citizens can look directly over the square to the steps and main entrance of the Finnish parliament. The terrace doubles the amount of public outdoor space provided for library visitors and creates a new destination where people can meet and observe the city below.

The ground floor of Oodi extends the Kansalaistori square into an interior public space. The purpose of the ground floor is to make each of the facilities of the library apparent and accessible and provide a non-commercial interior space open to all, every day of the week. Kino Regina, the National Audiovisual Institute's movie theatre will occupy a space on the ground floor, together with a cafe restaurant with seating that will spill out onto the square in the summer months.

The middle floor, known as the "Attic", consists of flexible rooms arranged around the intimate nooks and corners that inhabit the spaces between the trusses of the bridge structure. The multi-function rooms are designed to accommodate both noisy and quiet activities and it is on this floor that Oodi will offer facilities such as its makerspace and recording studios.

"Book Heaven" on the top floor, is a vast open landscape topped with an undulating cloud-like white ceiling punctured by circular rooflights. Here the best characteristics of the modernist library meet the possibilities provided by 21st Century technologies. The serene atmosphere invites visitors to read, learn, think and to enjoy themselves. From this level visitors can enjoy an unobstructed 360-degree panorama view of the city centre, or step out onto the terrace overlooking Kansalaistori square.

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Oodi Helsinki Central Library / ALA Architects

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Completed in 2018 in Helsingfors, Finland. Images by Tuomas Uusheimo. Oodi occupies a hugely significant site in central Helsinki: facing the steps of the Finnish parliament building, the Eduskuntatalo across the...

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Gallery of Deichman Library / Atelier Oslo + Lund Hagem - 8

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Image 8 of 31 from gallery of Deichman Library / Atelier Oslo + Lund Hagem. Photograph by Einar Aslaksen

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Text description provided by the architects. The new interior design for the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania was created in the context of the renovation of the building which was originally constructed in 1963.

Many elements including interior spaces, plan structure, interior elements and finishing materials are protected by strict heritage regulations. Therefore the interior spaces essentially were left intact, many interior elements and materials were restored or recreated. Many new functions were introduced within the existing spaces on the six floors of the building. New functional zones include few hundred working spaces for visitors, spaces for co-working, coffee shops, conference room, gallery, recording studio, cinema room, arts incubator, daycare centre and more. A lot of attention was dedicated to the aesthetic solutions highlighting the relation between "the old" and "the new". The aim was to make a clear distinction rather than moderating between the two. A modern homogeneous structure of black furniture and other interior elements was created, which forms a new identity for the library. The modular furniture system is minimalist in style, pretentious forms were avoided. Some of the elements were as large as 6 meter in height corresponding to the large scale of interior spaces.

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Text description provided by the architects. The new interior design for the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania was created in the context of the renovation of the building which was originally constructed in 1963. Many elements including interior spaces, plan structure, interior elements and finishing materials are protected by strict heritage regulations.

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Design Collaborators: Japan Power Media Co.Ltd、ART FRONT GALLERY、ART FRONT GALLERY Shanghai Co.Ltd、ujidesign

Interior Constructor: SDCIC Construction Group Co., Ltd

Text description provided by the architects. In the capital city for thirteen dynasties, Xi'an, there is a high-tech industry development zone which takes the lead in the most advanced technologies. In 1st and 2nd floor of a modern building which stands in this zone, YJY MAIKE CENTRE FLAGSHIPSTORE was designed by the famous Japanese designer Tomoko Ikegai. It is a bookstore-based integrated commercial facility with an area of 5308 ㎡.

The design is trying to integrate a few concepts together: the world heritage -Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, the starting point of Silk Road, an ancient city with rich cultural heritage, the luxurious environment of Grand Hyatt in the upper floors, as well as the beautiful shape of the curved twin towers in the business center. The bookstore is designed to be a unique space where the East meets the West, people meet books, and cultures are integrated.

Themed with 「Library & Gallery」, the design intends to combine the elements of library for the pursuit of time quality with those of gallery which provides experience of culture and art in the space. What's more, palatial layout is adopted to create an ideal environment for inducing some creative interaction between customers and the bookstore. The space is designed with human touch. It creates the feel like walking in a palace from one room to another, in order to achieve the affinity of "people-people" "people-book" "people-space" and to bring a sense of belonging for all guests to feel like staying at home.

In the 1 st floor, a 10m high bookshelf stands in the spatial lobby. Stepping into the bookstore, guests will instantly have a keen sense of being surrounded with books. The floor near the spiral stair in the atrium is designed in bright color and the ceiling is glazed, which give people some differences from the surroundings. The lighting hanging in the empty space is like flying paper. The stage with an imbedded stone map of the central Xi'an can be used for activities.

In the 2 nd floor, bar counters are set up as a lounge in the hotel, providing a place for people working in the office building to communicate.

A 5m x 0.5m book corridor brings an artistic experience just like gallery by reducing ceiling height, using deep color carpet and setting cabinet on the bookshelf. The quietness is created in the space, and the calmness is achieved. Art works are seen everywhere, which are customized to local culture.

Here in the bookstore, you will experience the long history of China as the pride of the world. You can also relax yourself, relieving your stress, meditating and enjoying your life. It provides people a space which is beyond time and filled with classical culture and fun.

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Xi'an Maike Center's Bookstore / IKEGAI & Bros

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Design Collaborators: Japan Power Media Co.Ltd、ART FRONT GALLERY、ART FRONT GALLERY Shanghai Co.Ltd、ujidesign Interior Constructor: SDCIC Construction Group Co., Ltd Text description provided by the architects. In the capital city for thirteen dynasties, Xi'an, there is a high-tech industry development zone which takes the lead in the most advanced technologies.

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Text description provided by the architects. The design of this private library has started from a requisite of space from a bibliophile: to organize and expose a collection of books previously confined in boxes. It was proposed a dialogue between daily habits cultivated in a pre-existing house and a large garden area available.

The additional library's area intended to maintain distance enough for the recognition of new volume autonomy as well as to be placed comfortably close enough to complement and connect existing balconies and external areas. The zone of transition between new and old volume was established by a generous garden, and its incorporation into the project was determined from distinct purposes of the openings:

Transparency: north and south facades that aim at a visual contact with existing house and the bordering garden, being protected in the north by eaves that avoids solar rays in summer and invites them to enter in winter;

Translucent: the eastern facade is filtered with inclined horizontal brises, which homogenize external landscape, and at the west facade a dense vegetation filtrates direct sun rays and homogenizes external view;

Dematerialization: The zenith opening is performed with special high solar filtration glass, and its position dematerializes a continuous brick wall from the main shelf, reflecting and framing the external pines.

Inner spaces are thus defined by the openings and are arranged by the central double-brick wall, which structure the library main casing. The toilet, the most enclosed space of the design, is the buttress of this mixed structure of wooden pillars and structural masonry wall. In contrast, the most open space is the reading balcony, where one seeks to keep a simplicity of habits of reading under the canopy of a tree.

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Text description provided by the architects. The design of this private library has started from a requisite of space from a bibliophile: to organize and expose a collection of books previously confined in boxes. It was proposed a dialogue between daily habits cultivated in a pre-existing house and a large garden area available.

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Text description provided by the architects. Background and needs

The Project is located on one of the hillsides that have been affected by the violence since the 80´s because of the drug traffic network that operates in the city of Medellin. It is part of the government's social master plan program to give equal economic and social opportunities to the population.

The program asked for a building with library, training room, administration room and auditorium on a unique volume. The proposal was to fragment the program in three groups: The library, the rooms, and the auditorium; then join them with a bottom platform that allows flexibility and autonomy, improving the people's participation considering each volume operates independently.

Justification of the adopted composed solution

Medellín is geographically mountainous.

The city is located in the north of Los Andes mountain ridge, one of the most topographically broken places of Colombia. This geography defines the identity and the image of the city. This image is precisely what the project aims at, it intends to integrate itself into the landscape and become an interpretation of it.

Architecture as landscape

More than a building, it proposes the construction of an operative geography that belongs to the valley like a mechanism of organization of the program and the zone, showing the unknown directions of the irregular mountain contours, not like a metaphor, but like an organization of the form in the place, a folded building cut like the mountains. A landscape building that redefines the folded mountain structure in form and space, nullifying the idea of the landscape like a background and encouraging the ambiguity building-landscape.

Justification of the urban insertion of the proposal

The Project is organized in two structures: the first one is the building - landscape (rocks) and the second one is a platform that integrates and transforms the cover into a square that looks into the valley; this way, the building is empowered as a meeting place, multiplying the connections and letting it develop as a reference point.

The building like an icon

The place is made by small brick houses, product of auto construction; and residue of green areas as a result of the impossibility of construction on it. This organization produces a uniform texture of the city like a building - landscape, like an icon, keeping the tension that already exists. Geography as an element of hierarchy; and architecture as the epitome of texture.

The Project is noticeable from a big part of the city, allowing it to redefine itself as the symbol of a new Medellín, as a way of making people feel identified and receiving the building as their own. In the present state, the building is one of the touristic points in the city and one of the most visited.

Other Aspects

Ambient and atmosphere

Additionally to make an icon building, the first premise was to develop a construction that, through its interior design, could descontextualize the individual from the poverty that is experienced in the outside creating a warm atmosphere based on natural light, allowing a great ambient of study and lecture. This is the reason why the building takes a timid look into the city trough the small windows that show the relation with the valley, letting the illumination go into the top of the building.

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Text description provided by the architects. Background and needs The Project is located on one of the hillsides that have been affected by the violence since the 80´s because of the drug traffic network that operates in the city of Medellin.

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Text description provided by the architects. Sasaki initially worked with the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico to investigate how to transform the original 1969 library building into a more relevant and collaborative academic hub. During the course of this study it was discovered that the building was in need of a significant seismic upgrade that would be both cost prohibitive and severely limit the flexibility of the building. The university then asked Sasaki to collaborate with them to design a building that will become the leading academic library in Mexico.

The new library, situated on the site of the previous library, will embody the academic mission of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, a place where students, faculty, staff, and the region's industry leaders come together to access information, study, collaborate, and be inspired.

The ground floor of the library contains a dramatic new student plaza bracketed by a cafe, an auditorium, a gallery, and a makerspace lab. Dramatically perched above this plaza are the upper floors of the library. By placing the library above this open space, views and connections are created across the campus, and the plaza itself is shaded by the library above.

Comprising four floors of program elements, the library transitions from technology-rich collaborative study spaces at its base to quiet, contemplative study at the top. A central staircase extends from the plaza level to the rooftop, culminating in dramatic views of Cerro de la Silla, the iconic mountain that overlooks the campus.

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Library at Tecnológico de Monterrey / Sasaki

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Text description provided by the architects. Sasaki initially worked with the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico to investigate how to transform the original 1969 library building into a more relevant and collaborative academic hub.

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Text description provided by the architects. Canada's first "bookless" library dedicated to Makerspaces, the Idea Exchange Old Post Office offers Cambridge residents free access to an array of spaces for learning and creativity, and a new, central hub for meeting and socializing. Anchored on the bank of the Grand River, the project reignites a landmark - a listed 1885 masonry post office that had fallen into serious disrepair - and adds a 9,000-square-foot transparent pavilion that wraps around the original building and stretches out over the water, revealing the conviviality within to passersby, enticing them in.

The multidimensional architecture communicates from all sides, exuding intelligence and practicality as it deftly merges old and new. RDHA achieved sophisticated forms using customized off the-shelf materials, maximizing utility, appearance and economy. Standard elements, such as drywall and strip lights, are treated with a degree of care that adds elegance. The Idea Exchange Old Post Office is an emblem of civic pride, of advances in communication technologies (in its transition from post office to digital hub), and of the corresponding transformation of the Cambridge library system, which in 2015 rebranded itself as the Idea Exchange.

A glass box entrance introduces an exhilarating progression up a feature stair adjacent to glass-walled views of the historic building, providing users with a close-up of the immaculately restored masonry while carrying them into the contemporary pavilion addition that cantilevers over the river wall. Scattered with table and lounge seating, this area offers breathtaking floor-to-ceiling views of the surroundings. Rhythmic window openings in the old building are now entrances into a fully-equipped Reading Room Cafe, accessed by bridges that echo the bridges over the river.

The openings in the floor allow natural light from skylights overhead to reach the lower level, and also connect the activities below to the heart of the building. There is care and efficiency in the details - for example, stone patterns on the façade of the heritage building inspired a custom ceramic frit pattern on the glazing that reduces solar heat gain, and the perforation frit pattern on the millwork that provides airflow to servers and heaters. Similarly, a perforated drywall ceiling absorbs sound while softening the visual uniformity of the space.

On the lower level, users can take advantage of a suite of creative studio spaces. There is a black box theatre, film and audio recording suites, laptop dispensing and gaming areas, and musical instruments are available for recording and performance.

The second level is a children's Discovery Centre, a single large bright room equipped with smart tables, robot building kits, and built-in feature walls with Lego, Lite Brite and magnets. In keeping with the mixing of old and new, a floating glass boardroom/ teaching space and a large exterior rooftop terrace and green roof overlook the river, and also provide up-close views of the heritage building, including its newly restored slate roof.

One of the greatest pleasures of the building is the attic Makerspace-an all-white space that soars to a peak, and is braced by an elegant arrangement of star-shaped steel trusses, now adapted to hold strips of lighting. Between these trusses the architects have created a fully-equipped studio outfitted with a laser cutter, 3D printers, soldering stations, vinyl cutters, irons, sewing machines, and wood and metal workshop tools. Visitors can gaze up into the clock tower through a glass ceiling, and see its weights and gears in action. An extended glazed parapet condition at the roof level discreetly houses its mechanicals.

As they updated the building for the present, the architects were also thinking about the future. Anticipating that a river walk will eventually follow the water's edge, they clad the soffit of the cantilever with aluminum panels, polished with a mirror-like finish, heightening the building's relationship with its surroundings, and giving future walkers a reason to look up.

Cambridge is a small city, but it has a rich architectural and library heritage that provides context for this project. The Old Post Office is just one of a wealth of historic brick and limestone buildings lining Water Street, including a stately brick Carnegie library, one of three built in the area. These nineteenth-century libraries used classical architecture to show the value placed on knowledge and ideas. With their reimagining of the Idea Exchange Old Post Office, juxtaposing brick and slate with glass and metal, RDHA has made the same statement in an updated architectural language, and shown the value in merging the historical with the contemporary. And while the Idea Exchange Old Post Office is bookless, the Idea Exchange Queen's Square branch, with an extensive book collection, is only a short walk away.

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Idea Exchange Old Post Office Library / RDHA

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Text description provided by the architects. Canada's first "bookless" library dedicated to Makerspaces, the Idea Exchange Old Post Office offers Cambridge residents free access to an array of spaces for learning and creativity, and a new, central hub for meeting and socializing.

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https://www.archdaily.com.br/br/959314/biblioteca-da-universidade-de-tecnologia-de-delft-mecanoo

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Mais informações Menos informações
Campus. O terreno fascinante da nova biblioteca, no campus da Universidade de Tecnologia de Delft, que data dos anos 1960, é ofuscado por um grande auditório brutalista de concreto, projetado por Van den Broek & Bakema. A universidade buscava uma atmosfera de unidade para o campus, com gramados com flores e árvores onde alunos e professores possam se encontrar informalmente em grandes escadas. Uma biblioteca moderna funciona principalmente por meio de computadores, a maioria dos livros são armazenados em depósitos. É um edifício onde a técnica é exposta, e desta forma, o programa foi formulado.

Vidro e grama. O auditório Van den Broek & Bakema se assemelha a um enorme sapo na grama verde. O vasto gramado é elevado em uma das extremidades, como uma folha de papel, moldando o telhado da nova biblioteca. A cobertura verde é de livre acesso para caminhadas e descanso, configurando uma nova comodidade para todo o campus.

A cobertura é sustentada por esbeltas colunas de aço em um grande salão fechado por paredes inclinadas totalmente envidraçadas. A base da encosta é marcada por uma larga escadaria que conduz a um acesso recuado. Um enorme cone perfura a superfície verde. Apoiado em colunas de aço inclinadas, o cone abriga quatro pavimentos, com espaços para estudos tradicionais conectados por uma escada helicoidal. No interior do cone, um vazio central fornece a luz natural, vinda de um telhado envidraçado, iluminando os espaços de leitura internos. Estendendo-se quarenta metros acima do nível do solo e iluminado à noite, o cone atua como um farol no campus, dia e noite.

A nova biblioteca se revela uma construção de vidro e grama. Um edifício do futuro, onde 300 dos 1000 locais de estudo estão equipados com terminais elétricos. As condições do 'eixo eletrônico' foram atendidas, mas também há espaço suficiente para vivenciar e sentir os livros.

Estante de livros suspensa. O interior da biblioteca é caracterizado por uma enorme amplitude, graças, ao grande salão central. A atmosfera no edifício é calorosa, o piso tem a tonalidade do deserto do Saara e os móveis foram fabricados em aconchegantes painéis de MDF. Os livros mais solicitados foram organizados em uma estante de quatro níveis, disposta em frente a uma parede posterior azul. O forro de metal duro é suavizado pela luz vinda das colunas. A parte inferior dos pilares é constituída de gradis perfurados, pelas quais o ar quente é soprado para o interior do edifício. Através de fachadas envidraçadas e paredes internas, um colar envidraçado foi posicionado ao redor do cone e da cobertura envidraçada no vértice da forma, permitindo que a luz do dia penetre profundamente no edifício. A transparência assim criada torna o edifício luminoso e perceptível.

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Biblioteca da Universidade de Tecnologia de Delft / Mecanoo

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Mais informações Menos informações Campus. O terreno fascinante da nova biblioteca, no campus da Universidade de Tecnologia de Delft, que data dos anos 1960, é ofuscado por um grande auditório brutalista de concreto, projetado por Van den Broek & Bakema.

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Text description provided by the architects. Dalarna Media Library is organized as a 'spiral of knowledge' identifying a new library culture that stages a wide range of experiences and inspiration. The natural terrain of the surrounding landscape continues as a ramp that spirals up through the central atrium of the library - its heart - where all search of information and orientation take place.

The spiral of knowledge creates a varied study environment allowing the students to move about in the heart space of the library or to withdraw to more quiet and calm areas along the facade. The variation of sound levels and the differentiation of activities creates a versatile library that is rich in experiences. The building has its very own spatial character uniting library and multi-media functions to create synergy with the existing university complex.

The characteristic double facade with reflecting horizontal lamellae fronting a wood cladding is developed in collaboration with Danish artist Jeppe Hein. Instead of creating an isolated piece of art work Jeppe Hein and Adept has developed the competition design for the façade into a detailed and refi ned expression with an immateriality that mirrors its surroundings and the people in it with broken reflections. The lamellaes are made from highly polished stainless steel while their wooden background is a Siberian larch.

The new library is the main attraction and new entrance arriving to the university. To emphasize this, the surrounding spaces are transformed from a large parking lot to an integrated urban plaza, which handles the user and visitor fl ows at the same time as it optimizes the public spaces around the building into defi ned activity zones and intimite recreational areas. The library functions are pushed onto the new plaza marking the new main entrance with life and activities. Dalarna Media Library will come to attract the community of Falun acting as a motivating generator for both citizens and local businesses.

"The library has really become the study environment and the meeting place that we hoped for it to be. The students have taken it to their hearts instantly and uses group spaces and the rest of the study options intensively. Often all the group rooms are fully booked. The Library has even become a very popular place to meet each other - and already we will have a load of activities planned to take place in the arena." Margareta Malmgren, Library Director, Dalarna University

Dalarna Media Library is designed and planned by Adept (DK) based on the winning competition proposal that was developed in collaboration with Sou Fujimoto Architects (JP), Rambøll Engineers (DK) and Topotek1 Landscape (DE). The facade was designed together with Danish artist Jeppe Hein (DK).

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Text description provided by the architects. Dalarna Media Library is organized as a 'spiral of knowledge' identifying a new library culture that stages a wide range of experiences and inspiration. The natural terrain of the surrounding landscape continues as a ramp that spirals up through the central atrium of the library - its heart - where all search of information and orientation take place.

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Text description provided by the architects. Whenever I interview a candidate in recent years, if he often mentions the so called shape, I will not employ him in most occasions. In my opinion, he must have been heavily poisoned by fashion. As a comprehensive expression of design, architecture is a systematical job rather than art of shape. In order to clarify design is more than art of shape, I intentionally pay little attention to shape in last several projects. Meanwhile, I tried my best to maintain a low profile in my design and spent even more time and energy on highlighting the space and experience of people. Huateng Hog House Rural Library is such a try.

At the very beginning of design, President Shen of Huateng told me he had collected many sleepers. I was very excited. The dark quiet sleepers seemed humble, conveying a sense of history, thus different from exquisite construction materials. As to construction materials, I particularly feared the oversophisticated chemical texture. Such texture is excessively exquisite and even appears boring. Like the desserts displayed in dessert store, they seemed delicious below elegant light to stimulate your appetite. But when you eat every kind of dessert available to you, you will find difficult to swallow.

People are now struggling to build many constructions in the shape of desserts. The photos of such constructions are exquisite but expressionless, like online star face manufactured by plastic surgery. Online star face is a fashion and trend nowadays. However, I'm trying to go to the opposite side of such fashion and trend, in an effort to make my constructions look ugly to some extent. Like roasted sweet potato, my design appears somewhat dried out, crude and dark, nothing like the popular and favorite ones. But when you look into it, you will find something amazing.

The library should occupy an area of 200 sqm. As the sleepers offered by proprietor is of 160x220x2400, they are not applicable to the space 2400 wide. It is necessary to form a space wide enough by sleepers. Based on the sleepers of such specifications, we worked out our first plan. The section of such design is a folded arched-space created by five sleepers.

The space is 6m wide and 5.7m high. Such space is very good in my opinion. However, the problem I have to confront is that such structure is more suitable for small pavilion rather than closeable building. Meanwhile, such method will consume a large amount of sleepers, thus resulting in over expensive price. So we have to improve the structure without change of space and dimensions. In the picture, the structure has now been modified to a normal frame structure rather than ribbed structure in early years. I have to come back to the inherent link between architecture and space after the problem of structure is addressed.

Since the appearance of library is of little concern to me, the experience of reading is very important. I'm trying to discover the nature of space in the countryside fields. Without the techniques relevant to shape, what inherent link between conception and space, environment the architecture is about to bring to us? The conception is more concerned about than techniques and shapes in Chinese constructions, really? My idea is based on so many libraries of formalistic styles I have seen these years, such as the bookshelf of Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Museum designed by Anteng. There are many other similar libraries and book stores, including Tianjin Binhai Library, a design work of MVRDV. How such libraries benefit their readers in addition to their dazzling cool and unreachable high shelves? I had a stroll around the library just to satisfy my curiosity and experience the freshness. I think will never come back to read there in future. The inhuman space imposed a sense of pressure on me. The books are no more than decorations, and the readers can hardly calm them down. An excessively decorated stage will eclipse the players on it.

What kind of space will make readers feel comfortable? I'm always trying my best to find out what I really pursue at the bottom of my heart. I will never forget the years I spent in the primary school of the village where I was born. I especially liked to sit by the window of classroom, so I could easily turn my face to have a look at the fields outside and keep nothing in mind for a while. It carved a wonderful memory in my heart. In the breeze of spring, green rice fields are everywhere across the countryside, with swallows flying over the fields, sometimes across in front of us. Below the sunshine of summer, butterflies danced over blossoming rice flowers, sometimes flapping their wings close to the window. In the fresh air of autumn, vast golden rice fields are decorated with farmers here and there busy in harvest. In the cold wind of winter, the piles of dried straws on the bare fields arouse my imagination of Utopia.

The wonderful memory of the landscapes outside the window of classroom in my childhood is the prototype of my design. Sometimes I kept nothing in mind, and felt frightened when I regained control of myself for fear of criticism by teacher. Now I would like to gaze at the fields from the library without any restraint and read in peace. When I get tired, I will relax as long as I wish. Moreover, I can sleep in the lounge for a while when I feel sleepy.

The picture below is a photo I took when I observed the reaction of readers in the library soon after it was built up. The three persons are teachers from Zhoushan. The guide urged them to move on, but they expressed their wish to stay to read quietly in the library whole afternoon. I was very happy when I heard it. Having no idea I was the designer of the library, they must have told the truth.

Despite the difference between my design and that of formalistic library, I make every effort to maximize the care for readers, strictly controlling the height of self so that the readers can reach out to their desired books without any difficulty. As I say I will highlight a sense of roasted sweet potato in the building, I propel myself to deliver my promise. Despite scorched skin, the insider must be soft and fresher. The wood used for interior of library is raw red cedar from Northeast China. Without any protective paint, the red cedar gives off a natural fragrance to provide readers with an elegant reading environment full of fragrance. It is said astronauts will be arranged to recover for a week in house made of red cedar after they returned to earth.

Approaching the end of construction, the construction workers told me they would lie down on the wooden floor to have a rest when the floor heating system was powered on. It is an amazing enjoyment. I have not yet enjoyed the floor heating system of the library I design. The fragrance of red cedar is so charming and pleasant. Except being personally experienced in the library, it cannot be expressed by pictures or drawings. Just like I expect at the very beginning of design, the line-styled library stands quietly in the center of fields, stretching 40 meters long. From a distance, the library looks like a barn. The surface of dark board seems humble and calm as if it were carved by years of exposure to rain and wind. It appears harmonious with the surroundings no matter in space or color. The surroundings are integrated into the library in such harmony. The library is no longer confined to the space of 200 square meters. Everything in the view from the window is a part of the library.

The line-styled library is vertical to the country lanes. The cross point is both the lobby of library and a post for rest in the fields. I expect the library will serve not only the tourists but also the workers in the nearby fields. Everyone may come here to have a rest and drink some water.

Now I have said what I should say. There is neither collateral evidence or sufficient quotes nor classic building prototype or guidance of superman or philosopher. This building of library is an embodiment of my attitude towards life and recalls the wonderful memory of my childhood. Most of the primary ideas of design have been realized. But there remains some regrets, one of which is the sleepers don't appear in the structure of library because we encountered difficult during construction. The sleepers have been soaked in asphalt with large iron nails inside. The consumption of blade must be incredible during cutting. Meanwhile, the heat generated by cutting will melt asphalt to stick the blade. It is beyond our estimation. The cost of construction is expected to rise dramatically accordingly and the progress of construction will be undoubtedly slowed down. I had to abandon sleepers and turned to normal wood structure.

Another regret is the inhaul cable of structure designed to increase interior of library. Due to constructor's improper structural calculation, the arch generates side thrust upon posts on both sides after the framework is completed, which will result in structural deformation over a long time. I have no choice but to introduce inhaul cable. Fortunately, the interior space is not impaired. Personally speaking, the increase of metal component percentage enriches the interior space. We are accustomed to learning lesson and drawing inspiration from mistake. The structure engineer's mistake in his work stimulated my inspiration in design. One of the methods to avoid inhaul cable is to extend beam along thrust generated by arch to transform it into batter post and eliminate the thrust generated by arch. Such thrust transforms library into another kind of architecture - church. The approximately 120sqm church is scheduled to be built in rural area of Zunyi.

Like a person, every building is inevitably flawed during its constant pursuit of improvement. As to such flaw, the only way is to face up to it, embrace it and correct it. Such attitude is also applicable to pictures. The photographer asked whether I want to amend the pictures, for instance, removing the wire poles and something else by PS. I told him not to amend. The pictures may seem artificial if perfectly amended like design sketch. When a flaw is covered, many other flaws will emerge. Let its flaw exposed below sunshine. Finally, let me extend my appreciation to President Shen of Huateng and his Huateng group, HKlong Log House as well as Leeko Studio 's design group (Xu Wenli, Li Zhaohan and Zhang Jiaqi) designated for Huateng Library for their generous support and contribution.

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Text description provided by the architects. Whenever I interview a candidate in recent years, if he often mentions the so called shape, I will not employ him in most occasions. In my opinion, he must have been heavily poisoned by fashion. As a comprehensive expression of design, architecture is a systematical job rather than art of shape.

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Text description provided by the architects. The first library of Muyinga, part of a future inclusive school for deaf children, in locally sourced compressed earth blocks, built with a participatory approach. Our work in Africa started within the framework of OpenStructures.net. BC was asked to scale the "Open structures" model to an architectural level. A construction process involving end-users and second-hand economies was conceived. Product life cycles, water resource cycles en energy cycles were connected to this construction process. This OpenStructures architectural model was called Case Study (CS) 1: Katanga, Congo. It was theoretical and fully research-based. 5 years later, the library of Muyinga in Burundi nears completion.

Vernacular inspirations. A thorough study of vernacular architectural practices in Burundi was the basis of the design of the building. Two months of fieldwork in the region and surrounding provinces gave us insight into the local materials, techniques and building typologies. These findings were applied, updated, reinterpreted and framed within the local know-how and traditions of Muyinga. The library is organized along with a longitudinal covered circulation space. This "hallway porch" is a space often encountered within the Burundian traditional housing as it provides a shelter from heavy rains and harsh sun. Life happens mostly in this hallway porch; encounters, resting, conversation, waiting - it is a truly social space, constitutive for community relations. This hallway porch is deliberately oversized to become the extent of the library. Transparent doors between the columns create the interaction between inside space and porch. Fully opened, these doors make the library open up towards the adjacent square with breathtaking views over Burundi's "milles collines" (1000 hills).

On the longitudinal end, the hallway porch flows onto the street, where blinders control access. These blinders are an important architectural element of the street facade, showing clearly when the library is open or closed. On the other end, the hallway porch will continue as the main circulation and access space for the future school. A very important element in Burundian (and, generally, African) architecture is the very present demarcation of property lines. It is a tradition that goes back to tribal practices of compounding family settlements. For the library of Muyinga, the compound wall was considered in a co-design process with the community and the local NGO. The wall facilitates the terracing of the slope as a retaining wall in dry stone technique, low on the squares and playground of the school side, high on the street side. Thus, the view towards the valley is uncompromised, while safety from the street side is guaranteed.

The general form of the library is the result of structural logic, derived on one hand from the material choice (Compressed Earth Blocks masonry and baked clay roof tiles). The locally produced roof tiles were considerably more heavy than imported corrugated iron sheets. This inspired the structural system of closely spaced columns at 1m30 intervals, which also act as buttresses for the high walls of the library. This rhythmic repetition of columns is a recognizable feature of the building, on the outside as well as on the inside. The roof has a slope of 35% with an overhang to protect the unbaked CEB blocks and contributes to the architecture of the library.

Climatic considerations inspired the volume and facade: a high interior with continuous cross-ventilation helps to guide the humid and hot air away. Hence, the façade is perforated according to the rhythm of the Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) masonry, giving the library its luminous sight in the evening. The double room height at the street side gave the possibility to create a special space for the smallest of the library readers. This children's space consists of a wooden sitting corner on the ground floor, which might facilitate cozy class readings. It is topped by an enormous hammock of sisal rope as a mezzanine, in which the children can dream away with the books that they are reading. The future school will continue to swing intelligently through the landscape of the site, creating playgrounds and courtyards to accommodate existing slopes and trees. In the meanwhile, the library will work as an autonomous building with a finished design.

A Community Project - Social reintegration: reconnecting the deaf and blind community to broader society. In a very informal and oral Burundian culture, deaf children are excluded from stories, information, exchange, education. Often, deaf children are isolated, or even expelled from a certain group of people. The library of Muyinga, linked to an inclusive boarding school for deaf children, creates the possibility to belong to a group, to belong to the wider community of Muyinga through public infrastructure as the first of its kind in Muyinga. In a later stage, the school will further integrate its deaf students into broader society by a future school-based wood workshop, and a future polyvalent hall, both serving the wider community of Muyinga.

Intercultural Dialogue and participatory processes. For several years or even decades, participatory design has taken a more prominent role in modern architecture. Some of these initiatives are very innovative but often fail to translate well-intended theory to real-life practice. BC architects & studies have focused from the beginning of the implementation of participatory processes in constructional practice. We do this not only by cooperating with local workforces, but also by involving students, interns, and young architects, in a mutual educational setting. Also, the organisation of the library is based on this principle. The board of the library includes all directors of neighboring primary and secondary schools, facilitating contact and cooperation between the future deaf students and the hearing students. The library will also host cinema-nights for the whole community of Muyinga.

Educational processes during construction. Different educational institutions contribute to this project. Summer school with LUCA architecture university Brussels: Every year 3-6 students join us to work on the field in Burundi for at least 6 weeks, supported by a scholarship of VLIR-UOS. Experience trip for Zevenkerken High School: Every year, around 20-30 high school students come and enlarge their perspective during a 2 week stay in Burundi. Architecture internships: every year 1-2 people join us for their architectural internship during at least 1 month. Whatever the group, everyone joins in small on-site prototyping workshops on diverse topics such as CEB production, adobe production, earth analysis, bamboo weaving, sisal weaving, foundation solutions, furniture design, and so on, in an atmosphere of mutual contact and respect with local craftsmen, whereby knowledge of all involved is shared. These workshops bring an understanding of the direct social, cultural, ecological and economic effects of certain actions in a globalizing world: small scale actions do matter.

Short-chain economy, knowledge transfer, capacity building. All material research, design decisions, and construction site organisation aim at keeping a short supply chain of expertise, labour, and materials. We try to reinforce the local economy by means of this short supply chain. We chose hand labour over machine labour when organizing earthworks; we hire only local labourers, a local foreman, and local architect, to avoid the interference of a contractor from Bujumbura or Rwanda; we focus on the use of local materials such as earth for the masonry and finishing, clay for the roof and floor tiles, sisal for the hammock, Eucalyptus for the roof structure, and if we have to use cement, we try to do it as minimal as possible, while buying it in the local shop. Throughout the process of construction, we try to create good conditions for knowledge transfer. The builders have mastered CEB production and construction, earth plaster through our input. We have mastered the sisal hammock weaving and the floor and roof tiles detailing through the input of the local builders, and so on. The knowledge transfer goes in all directions. In the end, the construction process of the library will have built capacity. The foreman is considering mounting a CEB production facility to sell CEB blocks to Muyinga residents; 12 labourers have made it to mason-helpers or even masons during the process, which was celebrated according to the masons' guild traditions; we have learned (and continue learning) how to act as architects in a globalizing world; the architecture students and interns have learned design with short-chain materials, to be applied in a Western construction context also. The capacity building process is endless and ongoing.

International collaborations. For this project, the architects of BC-AS worked in association with the NGO of the diocese of Muyinga Odedim (Organisation Diocésaine pour l'Entraide et le Développement Intégral de Muyinga). Together they promote a holistic approach in the construction process in Burundi, with a specific focus on the development of educational structures (schools). Satimo, a small Belgian non-profit, gives financial support. Besides that, the project is closely connected to SHC, an NGO for helping sensorial handicapped people in Africa. Also Rotary Aalst, Zonta Brugge, Province of West-Flanders, Abdijschool Zevenkerke and VOCATIO are given a worthy mention for their financial support. Finally VLIR-UOS in combination with the faculty of architecture of KU Leuven, campus Sint-Lucas Brussels/Ghent, and the Hogeschool Ghent are the academic partner of this project.

Local Materials Research. The challenge of limited resources for this project became an opportunity. We managed to respect a short supply-chain of building materials and labor force, supporting local economy, and installing pride in the construction of a library with the poor people's material: earth.

Earth analysis: "field tests and laboratory tests" - Raw earth as building material is more fragile than other conventional building materials. Some analyse is thus important to do. Some easy tests can be made on field to have a first idea of its quality. Some other tests have to be made in the laboratory to have a better understanding of the material and improve its performance.

CEB: "from mother nature" - After an extensive material research in relation with the context, it was decided to use compressed earth bricks (CEB) as the main material for the construction of the building. We were lucky enough to find 2 CEB machines intact under 15 years of dust. The Terstaram machines produce earth blocks of 29x14x9cm that are very similar to the bricks we know in the North, apart from the fact that they are not baked. Four people are constantly producing stones, up to 1100 stones/day.

Eucalyptus "wood; the strongest, the reddest" - The load-bearing beams that are supporting the roof are made of eucalyptus wood, which is sustainably harvested in Muramba. Eucalyptus wood renders soil acid and therefor blocks other vegetation to grow. Thus, a clear forest management vision is needed to control the use of it in the Burundian hills. When rightly managed, Eucalyptus is the best solution to span spaces and use as construction wood, due to its high strengths and fast-growing.

Tiles: "local quality product" - The roof and floor tiles are made in a local atelier in the surroundings of Muyinga. The tiles are made of baked Nyamaso valley clay. After baking, their color renders beautifully vague pink, in the same range of colors as the bricks. Each roof surface in the library design consists of around 1400 tiles. This roof replaces imported corrugated iron sheets, and revalues local materials as a key design element for public roof infrastructure.
Originally published on January 16, 2014.
Internal Earth plaster: "simple but sensitive" - Clay from the valley of Nyamaso, 3 km from the construction site, was used for its pure and non-expansive qualities. After some minimal testing with bricks, a mix was chosen and applied on the interior of the library. The earth plaster is resistant to indoor normal use for a public function, and has turned out nicely.

Bamboo: "Weaving lamp fixtures" - Local bamboo is not of construction quality, but can nicely be used for special interior design functions, or light filters. In a joint workshop with Burundians and Belgians, some weaving techniques were explored, and in the end, used for the lamp fixtures inside the library.

Sisal rope: "from plant to hammock" - Net-making from Sisal plant fibres is one of the small micro-economies that bloomed in this project. It took a lot of effort to find the only elder around Muyinga that masters the Sisal rope weaving technique. He harvested the local sisal plant on site, and started weaving. In the pilot project, he educated 4 other workers, who now also master this technique, and use it as a skill to gain their livelihood. The resulting hammock serves as a children's space to play, relax and read, on a mezzanine level above the library space.

Concrete "when it's the only way out" - For this pilot project, we didn't want to take any risks for structural issues. A lightweight concrete skeleton structure is inside the CEB columns, in a way that both materials (CEB and concrete) are mechanically separated. The CEB hollow columns were used as a "lost" formwork for the concrete works. It is our aim, given our experience with Phase 1, to eliminate the structural use of concrete for future buildings.

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Text description provided by the architects. The first library of Muyinga, part of a future inclusive school for deaf children, in locally sourced compressed earth blocks, built with a participatory approach. Our work in Africa started within the framework of OpenStructures.net. BC was asked to scale the "Open structures" model to an architectural level.

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Atelier Tao+C lines walls of capsule hotel with bamboo bookshelves

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Bamboo bookshelves line the triple-height atrium of a glass-walled capsule hotel and library in Zhejiang Province, China, by Atelier Tao+C. Surrounded by mountains, the hotel in the village of Qinglongwu was built inside an old rammed-earth structure that has been given a glazed gable-end extension.

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Text description provided by the architects. The Gaobu Book House serves the 2,500 people of Gaobu Village, one of the Dong minority villages in China. Like many other Chinese villages, Gaobu Village is challenged by "village-hollowing" in which the working-age population migrate. The Dong Minority community of China possess a unique cultural heritage rooted in land and customs. After surviving hundreds of years, modernization today poses a serious threat to Dong's identity.

Rather than accepting urban migration as a given, this project aims to restore dignity and induce development by proposing a small children's library project. Playing and curiosity come natural to children, hence our design generates an "active" architecture that allows children to engage and absorb knowledge through playing.

A Timber House
Every Dong building follows a set of unwritten rules which are interpreted by the carpenter and adapted according to the site. This process establishes a sort of architectural genetic code where no two buildings are the same, yet belong to a common language. Our design takes the traditional Dong house "Ganlan" as the creative starting point, where local timber is used for the framing which is adapted and reconfigured as to accommodate different programmatic and spatial configurations. This spatial subversion generates a building that at first glance appears traditional, however on closer inspection, new unconventional relationships emerge. By working within the system, materiality and craftsmanship inject new life back into the village.

A House of Stairs
Having witnessed how stairs become a key architectural element in Dong daily life, a place where people usually congregate around and where children love to play, stairs became the generating idea of the building. The library becomes a dynamic circulation and programmatic vessel for villages to interact. While children are playing they can also stop and read books, rather than a chore, reading becomes fun.

Most children within Gaobu are raised by their grandparents until the age of ten when they are forced, due to lack of facilities, to leave and study in nearby towns. Educational facilities such as schools and libraries are scarce, hence our idea was to offer an educational incubator, a house for children to learn through playing.

The 200m² timber 2-story structure revolves around a central stair that acts both as a means of circulation and identity of the building. The ground floor is conceived as a covered open space for public gatherings and local exhibitions, while each wall of the above house is dedicated to a specific educational theme. The internal spaces become rooms where people can engage in classes and public events while the stairs acts as reading area. By activating the façade through the design of the stairs, the building becomes a dynamic vessel for villagers to interact with rather than static object building devoid of life. At a time when the digital world seems to have embraced all facets of contemporary society, books offer the children of Gaobu a means to dis-connect and dream about their future.

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Gaobu Book House / CONDITION_LAB +UAL Studio

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Completed in 2018 in Huaihua, China. Images by Leon Xu Liang, Arthur Wong, Peter W Ferretto. The Gaobu Book House serves the 2,500 people of Gaobu Village, one of the Dong minority villages in China. Like many other Chinese villages, Gaobu...