Library

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Reconstruction of Yanjiao Campus Library of Central Academy of Fine Arts / 3andwich Design / He Wei Studio

July 2, 2021 Collin Chen 0

Task and design concept: Four-in-One with “collection, exhibition, reading, and enjoyment.” After on-site investigation, the architect put forward the idea of planning and transforming the library and the adjacent art gallery together, that is, the library and the exhibition hall should be considered as a whole, and jointly serve as the base of knowledge and art production for the future of the academy, also with the four-in-one concept of “collection, exhibition, reading, and enjoyment”. The so-called “collection” means here mainly books collecting. As a base of knowledge production, books are knowledge and the basis of all extended functions. Therefore, the new library must provide the best conditions for the collection of books. “Exhibition” means both presenting and exhibiting. Whether it is the library’s books or the exhibition hall, the new space should have enough openness and tolerance to carry different forms of display and exhibition. “Reading” means books reading, one of the most basic functional requirements of the library. The design hopes to provide teachers and students with a more spacious and comfortable reading space and a more diversified reading experience. “Enjoyment” means both enjoying and sharing. In the view of the architect, the new library should be a space that readers are willing to enter. It should not be rigid, where readers can even read books lying down. At the same time, the library should be open and public. It can not only be linked with the exhibition hall to hold related extended reading events next to the exhibitions but also be used as a special classroom, seminar room or lecture hall.

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Pingtung Public Library / MAYU architects

June 11, 2021 Collin Chen 0

The existing Pingtung Public Library, originally built in 1983, is a typical example of public buildings built before the democratization of Taiwan. Among other things, the most problematic of all is that its main entrance has no direct connection to the main street, making the building almost hidden from the city.

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Matsubara Civic Library / MARU。architecture

June 10, 2021 Hana Abdel 0

This project in Matsubara, Osaka Prefecture replaced an existing library on the same site. The original building was located adjacent to a reservoir pond in a park where many of the city’s cultural facilities are concentrated, and the client intended to fill in the pond to build the new structure. Firms were asked to submit proposals addressing both design and construction. Our winning proposal viewed the pond-side site as a unique project condition, and instead of filling it in, suggested building the library directly out into the water. The proposal received high marks for both its creativity and its streamlining of the construction process and budget.

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Grândola’s Library and Municipal Archive / Matos Gameiro Arquitectos + Pedro Domingos Arquitectos

June 3, 2021 Susanna Moreira 0

The Grândola’s new Library and Municipal Archive is accessed through the set of palm trees that structure the renovated Praça da República, now purged of all the noisy and conflicting elements, which have been removed from there in search for a more pacified order. This square is the central place of the city and the epicenter between the Municipal Garden, to the southwest, and the Orange tree garden, to the east. 

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Constitución Public Library / Sebastián Irarrazaval

May 29, 2021 Florencia Mena 0

The Public Library is part of a public-private initiative taken to rebuild the city of Constitución after the 8.8 degrees earthquake and tsunami that devastated the town during the year 2010. It is a small settlement situated in the very core of one of the biggest clusters of wood production in Chile. This situation gives identity to the town and also creates the best conditions to find not only high quality wood materials but also extremely well gifted carpenters to carefully craft a wooden building.

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Miniature Series II: Library in Ruins / ATELIER XI

May 26, 2021 Yu Xin Li 0

In the beginning, the architect received the original commission to design a 300-square-meter public building for facilitating the county’s culture and art education in Xiuwu, Henan. However, considering the vast serving area (630-square-kilometer county area) and the difficulty of traveling between scattered villages, the architect came up with a proposal to divide one building into a series of miniature facilities in different locations so as to better serve local communities. These cast-in-place concrete miniatures are interpreted into a series of tree-shaped spaces with tentacles reaching out for the sky, bathing in light and shadow. Their locations vary from fields, woods, to mountaintops, and their forms differ as well: while one grows out from the ruined walls in an abandoned village, another embodies a floating theater on the water. Following the first completed “Peach Hut”, the second episode of the miniature series, “Library in Ruins”, is constructed alongside the remnant of an adobe house in Sunyao Old Village which is 20 kilometers away from the Peach Hut.

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Nasushiobara City Library / Mari Ito + UAO

May 13, 2021 Hana Abdel 0

This library and community center is located in the city of Nasushiobara, about 150 km north of Tokyo. The commission was awarded in a 2016 competition. Forests, an important part of the city’s identity, inspired the design. When we step into a forest, we sense the subtle yet constant changes in season, weather, and plant and animal life, absorbing these transformations in multiple emotionally powerful ways.