How beautiful design is keeping libraries relevant in the digital era
Andrea Lo, CNN
Published
5:51 AM EDT, Mon April 23, 2018
Molenaar & Bol & van Dillen Architects
This library in Vught, Netherlands, used to be a church.
Molenaar & Bol & van Dillen Architects
The building was constructed in the 1800s and was in bad shape -- the local community came up with the idea of turning it into a library.
Molenaar & Bol & van Dillen Architects
This year the building was unveiled as De Petrus Meeting Center. The 32,291 feet (3,000 square meters) space features a library and other community facilities.
Molenaar & Bol & van Dillen Architects
The library has kept many of the church's original details, such as stained glass windows and arched roofs.
Molenaar & Bol & van Dillen Architects
The renovation was the work of Dutch firm Molenaar & Bol & Van Dillen Architects.
courtesy Ossip van Duivenbode
This library was hailed as "the most beautiful library in China" on social media when it opened in the northeastern Chinese city of Tianjin in 2017.
courtesy Ossip van Duivenbode
The 33,700-square-meter library is one of the five main attractions in the Binhai Cultural Center, the city's new recreational district.
courtesy Ossip van Duivenbode
The new structure has a sleek futuristic design featuring a luminous spherical auditorium space in the center, created by the Dutch architecture firm MVRDV and Tianjin's Urban Planning Design Institute.
courtesy Ossip van Duivenbode
The atrium of the library is shaped like an eye. According to the architectural firm, "The eye is a recognizable feature of the design visible from inside and outside but also a fully functioning atrium with a capacity of 110."
Will Pryce
In 2013, James Campbell and Will Pryce published The Library: A World History, billed as the most complete account of library buildings to date. James Campbell and Will Pryce included this 12th century abbey in their line up. Milena Veselinovic interviewed them about their favorite libraries.
Will Pryce
Will Pryce: "This is best solution I have seen to the problems of building a library on a contemporary scale. From the outside it's a simple rectangle but inside a series of voids have been opened up creating a complete variety of spaces to work. There are secluded areas for those who like to be surrounded by books and more open ones for those who prefer to be around people. It seemed hugely popular with the students."
Will Pryce
James Campbell: "Outside it looks like a white box, so there is an element of surprise when you go in. All light comes through the stones in the wall, and the honey-color trickle of sun rays makes it magical. It is one of the largest buildings in the world devoted entirely to rare books and manuscripts, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The elegance of the Beinecke later inspired the glass-walled structure that holds the original core collection of the British Library."
Will Pryce
James Campbell: "This is perhaps the largest high school library ever constructed. From the outside it looks like a severe brick box punctured by windows. The inside is completely different. The main space rises the whole height of the building and the bookcases are behind the dominating concrete structure. Students can read with privacy on carrels next to the windows which they can decorate with their own possessions."
Niels Mickers
In a beautiful cross-pollination of the arts, one of the world's most stunning places to read isn't even a library -- it's a theater in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Designed by Pero and Torres Arngol, the El Ateneo Grand Splendid started life as a stage for the performing arts in 1919, then a cinema. Once upon a time live tango played from an orchestra underneath silent movies. Now it's a majestic bookstore, complete with frescoes, balconies and original red curtains.
Will Pryce
James Campbell: "The Mafra Palace Library in Mafra, Portugal is at 88 meters the longest Rococo monastic library in the world. Sadly the original designs are lost but we think it would have been covered in gold leaf with an ornate painted ceiling. However, because the construction lasted from 1717 to 1771, by the time it was completed a simplified decoration was adopted. The library also hosts a colony of bats who come out at night to feed on the insects who would otherwise eat the books."
Will Pryce
Will Pryce: "Visiting this library was an extraordinary, if fraught, experience. We hiked up a mountain only to be told that we weren't allowed to photograph the interior. Fortunately we had a Korean student of James's with us who pleaded with the Abbott and little by little we negotiated our way in. First we could take a picture through the door, then from just inside and so on. The collection is revelatory because you realize that you are looking, not at books, but printing blocks and that they date from 1251 -- reminding us that the Koreans were printing for centuries before Gutenberg."
Will Pryce
James Campbell: "This is the oldest surviving Chinese library, dating from 1561. It is very dark because you were not intended to read inside, but to take your book to the garden or perhaps your room. The books have since been removed so this is the last picture that will ever be taken with the books on the their original shelves."
Will Pryce
Will Pryce: "This is an extraordinary space, a temple to the industrial age which creates an almost cathedral-like effect. There are thousands of books wherever you look and gorgeous ornate balustrades. Despite all the classical details it's actually made of iron and spans the weight of this huge library above the concert hall below."
Will Pryce
James Campbell: "This is the closest you can get to what a medieval library looked like. It was built for Malatesta Novello, a member of a prominent Italian aristocratic family, and it still contains original books, in their original places."
Will Pryce
James Campbell: "Although the building was completed in 1373 and is one of the oldest academic libraries in the world still in continuous daily use, the fittings date from the late sixteenth century. It is less ornate than Rococo libraries in palace or monastery complexes, because universities did not have access to the same amount of money, but it is still extraordinarily beautiful."
Will Pryce
Will Pryce: "It's an extraordinary piece of design, a statement of confidence by the Venetian Republic. It lies at the center of Jacopo Sansovino's scheme to re-design St Mark's square, though the building was completed after his death. The vestibule houses the Grimani collection of classical sculpture under a ceiling by Titian. While the original lecterns have gone, the superb interior design of the library gives us a sense of the richness of Venetian cultural life in this period."
Will Pryce
Will Pryce: "Arts End is one of most lovely corners of the group of libraries that constitute the Bodleian. Under the galleries there are little desks where readers face the bookshelves of one of the earliest wall-system libraries."
Will Pryc
James Campbell: "This is one of the largest monastic libraries ever built. The whole thing is a complete work of art. The corridors and staircase that leads to it is relatively simple, so when you enter this stunning space flooded with light there is almost a moment of revelation, a theatrical effect. There are no desks to work at because these library rooms were never intended for study, but for impressing visitors. The books were taken back to the monks' warm cells to be read. It was built in 1776, a piece de resistance of rococo design."
Will Pryce
Will Pryce: "This is a very imposing library from a time when Portugal was extremely wealthy and powerful. It is very dark but features intricate gold leaf which gives it magical luminosity. The backs of the bookcases each have different color, and there are integrated ladders that pull out, and secret doors that lead to reading rooms."
Will Pryce
WIill Pryce: "This library was ground-breaking. It established the template of using books to decorate the walls of the library which we've been using ever since. The great hall is a harmonious combination of bookshelves, books and a wonderful painted ceiling. It was complete by 1585 and influenced everything that followed it."
CNN
—
With today’s digital reading habits, it’d be easy to assume that libraries are on the verge of becoming redundant. But as a new wave of these buildings open around the world, the humble library is reinventing itself as an establishment for the modern age.
In Doha, the Qatar National Library was unveiled this month – a glitzy 42,000-square-meter space designed by Dutch architecture firm OMA, it’s a new landmark for the city.
In the Netherlands, meanwhile, a 19th century church, which has been painstakingly converted into a library, opened its doors this year.
See more
Across the world in Tianjin, in northeastern China, the futuristic Tianjin Binhai Library was unveiled in late 2017. Its eye-shaped atrium was designed to be a “new urban living room.”
Photograph by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA
Designed by Dutch architectural firm OMA, Qatar National Library officially opened in April.
Photograph by Iwan Baan, Courtesy of OMA
Construction on the building began in 2012 and wrapped up in September 2017.
Photograph by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA
The library was funded by the Qatar Foundation, a non-profit founded by Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Photograph by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA
It is designed as a single open-plan space.
Photograph by Iwan Baan, Courtesy of OMA
The library is part of the Qatar Education City, an area in which overseas universities have set up campuses.
Photograph by Iwan Baan, Courtesy of OMA
Encompassing a gross floor area of 45,000 square meters, the library holds more than a million books.
Photograph by Iwan Baan, Courtesy of OMA
Arabic and English books dominate the collection, although there's a wide variety of reading materials in other languages, too.
Photograph by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA
The heritage library has a unique design: a six-meter-deep space that looks like an excavated cave.
Photograph by Iwan Baan, Courtesy of OMA
The heritage library is a tribute to the culture of the region -- and the cave design is inspired by local archeological sites.
Photograph by Iwan Baan, Courtesy of OMA
The diamond-shaped building is 138 meters long -- the equivalent of two 747s.
Photograph by Iwan Baan, Courtesy of OMA
In the heart of the building is a heritage library featuring more than 4,000 manuscripts on Arab-Islamic civilization. The oldest manuscript in the collection dates back to the 6th century.
Photograph by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA
The library is designed to have bookshelves stacked on different levels -- visitors can see everything inside the building at a glance.
Photograph by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA
So far, 45,000 people have registered to become a member of the library.
Photograph by Hans Werlemann, Courtesy of OMA
The library can accommodate thousands of users -- who can rest on comfy seating.
“We designed this (space) as a public library for modern information,” Ellen van Loon, who designed the Qatar National Library with Rem Koolhaas and Iyad Alsaka at OMA, tells CNN. Of the part of the building that looks like an excavated cave, inspired by local archeological sites, she adds: “It’s not just another modern building somewhere in the middle of a country – this basically connects the building back to the culture. It’s a very different experience to going on the internet.”
“You will be inspired by things you didn’t think about before you entered the library.”
Avant garde designs
The Qatar National Library bears almost no resemblance to the musty libraries of yesteryear. Its cutting-edge aesthetic includes a diamond-shaped exterior, while inside its open-plan space can accommodate thousands of visitors.
“The advantage of designing a building as one big room (is that) … when you enter you can see all the books in one go,” van Loon says.
Inside, over one million books are available, housed in bookcases which are stacked on different levels, creating a terraced effect. A “people mover system” – essentially, a wheelchair-friendly sloped elevator – takes guests to the level they want to get to.
Photograph by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA
In the heart of the space is the heritage section featuring more than 4,000 manuscripts on Arab-Islamic civilization. One of the oldest tomes dates back to the 6th century.
It’s a library for the modern era. The Qatar National Library has an automatic system to send returned books back to the section where they belong, and all books are search-able digitally, van Loon explains.
“Libraries need to remain relevant and attractive, and design can help them appeal to people from many different backgrounds,” says Jamie Andrews, head of culture and learning at the British Library in London. “In our digitally enabled age there’s a continuing desire for public spaces which allow people to work and study together,” he adds.
At the British Library, Andrews says that they’ve seen an increased number of people using the public spaces since free WiFi became available.
See more
The library’s physical space remains relevant, too. “The purpose of a national library has been transformed – in some respects liberated – by the internet. As well as putting more of our collections online, we find there’s also an appetite for things that are original and authentic.” That includes items such as Beatles manuscripts, as well as a writing desk that once belonged to author Jane Austen, which are among the British Library’s most popular attractions.
02:39 - Source: CNN
Passion Points: Erdem Moralioglu on his love of books
Modern space
In Vught, a town in southern Netherlands, a church built in 1884 was transformed into a library with sliding bookshelves that house thousands of books.
The library, which forms part of the De Petrus Meeting Center, preserves the church’s original layout and design details, such as its arched roof and stained glass windows. There is, however, a newly built mezzanine floor of 5,380 square feet (500 square meters) where a study area and meeting rooms are located.
The idea for the transformation came from the local community. “Because the building was empty for several years, it was in bad shape,” explains architect Ivo van den Thillart, of Dutch firm Molenaar & Bol & van Dillen Architects, which was responsible for the project. “They wanted to save the church from demolition.”
While the church is privately owned, the local government subsidized the cost of building the library. The rest of De Petrus, which occupies 32,291 feet (3,000 square meters), contains a community center and museum, as well as bars and shops.
“The function of modern libraries is not about dimmed light and endless rows of bookshelves,” says van den Thillart. “At De Petrus, people are encouraged to come in (by) its attractive design and good facilities.”
Construction work took about a year, van den Thillart says, and cost $4.9 million.
“The goal was not to create a spectacular design, but a functional design,” he adds. “De Petrus library provides visitors with a comfortable place to read and study away from modern distractions.”
Knowledge is power
Perhaps a sign that libraries are not yet obsolete was the $12 million facelift which the iconic New York Public Library underwent in 2016.
Opened in 1911, New York Public Library is a landmark in New York City. Its home, the historic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, which features four major research libraries, sees more than two-and-a-half million visitors every year.
See more
Max Touhey Photography
The Rose Main Reading Room in the New York Public Library (NYPL) reopened in 2016 after a $12 million renovation. CNN Style spoke with the Library's director of research libraries, Bill Kelly, about the refurbishment process.
Max Touhey Photography
"One of the plaster rosettes fell, fortunately in the middle of the night because it was falling from a height of 52 feet and someone could have been killed, not to put too fine a point on it," says Kelly, of why the NYPL undertook the renovations.
Max Touhey Photography
"We spent $12 million. We had to do it and we had to do it the right way. Not simply for the security of our patrons and our staff, but this is one of the greatest buildings certainly in New York City, I would argue in the country."
Jonathan Blanc/Photo: Jonathan Blanc ( The New York Public Library )
"The library plays a hybrid role in 2016. We are in the information business and while the modality for providing that information has changed, our role has not. With the explosion of technology, the world of the libraries has expanded and grown geometrically. We keep pace with the demands of technology."
Max Touhey Photography
"We are called upon to provide increasingly broad access to information to our general research staff, our 88 branches, and to people who are in need of information services," Kelly says of the Library's role.
Jonathan Blanc/Photo: Jonathan Blanc ( The New York Public Library )
"The ceiling is 52 feet (15.8 meters) high. We had to build scaffolding of 42 feet high (12.8 meters) so we could access the ceiling and the inspection could take place, which was a time consuming and expensive process," Kelly says.
Jonathan Blanc/Photo: Jonathan Blanc ( The New York Public Library )
"We began with the scaffolding, then reinforced the material with steel cabling. We had to be faithful to the architectural vision of Carrère and Hastings, who designed the building at the beginning of the 20th century, and that meant recasting some materials."
Max Touhey Photography
"The main building on 42nd street really began in 1900 with the deconstruction of the reservoir. The corner stone was laid in 1902 and 9 years of construction took place," says Kelly of the original building.
Max Touhey Photography
"The building is a remarkable and iconic tribute to the elegance and the significance of the work that the library undertook, a tribute to the dignity of research, education and learning."
Max Touhey Photography
"The reading room itself and the catalogue room opened in 1911. It's a place that creates an opportunity for research, for quiet study."
Max Touhey Photography
"During renovation, all the books were stored at our space under Bryant Park. We were so delighted to watch them come back. It was lonely to be in that space without the books."
Max Touhey Photography
"The mural on the ceiling has been restored and it is spectacular. The extraordinary rosettes, the renaissance suggestions that are up there," Kelly says, naming some of the most impressive features of the renovation.
Max Touhey Photography
"But for me the great emblem is the windows. They are a soaring space that bring natural light to the room which is functional but symbolic. The ways in which knowledge, reading, research, and history are made available to people are echoed in the windows."
Jonathan Blanc
"We are digitizing as much of our material as we can so that they're available across the world but we have 55 million items and not all of them are going to be digitized."
Max Touhey Photography
"It is our responsibility to take good care of it and to hand it off to the subsequent generations in as good of a shape as we received it and hopefully better," adds Kelly.
Van den Thillart says that libraries today, such De Petrus and New York Public Library, are becoming destinations for those seeking knowledge in “every possible form and format.”
“Once inside, (visitors) attend lectures and concerts, or study,” he says. “In this way the library is shaping the way we learn things and enjoy books in the digital age.”’
And while their design may be modernizing to reflect their updated facilities, Andrews believes the original uses of a library remain as important as ever.
“Crucially, there’s still a huge amount of material that people can’t access online – either because of usage restrictions, or because it’s not available in digital form yet,” he says. “That being the case, there will continue to be a need for reading rooms where people can access such materials for free for the foreseeable future.”