ÅBNINGEN AF BIBLIOTEKSRUMMET - Forskning

Danish ”railway town”. Good reading, good design and good architecture were
consciously promoted at the same time in the same building as part of a greater folk
enlightenment project. The spirit of this enlightenment was related to the Danish
cooperative movement and to the Grundtvig movement – known in Danish
immigrant societies in the U.S. as ”the happy Danes”. The first general meeting of all
Danish libraries was held in this building. The exhibition library was the ideal library
of its time. The architecture and design were related to the international Arts and
Crafts Movement. The library was promoted in journals and speeches by Danish
library pioneers, and it inspired the building of several libraries. One of the Danish
library pioneers from this period H.O. Lange compared the importance of public
libraries with street lightning. Public libraries were as important parts of democracy
and public opinion.
The period of 1927-1939 is dominated by libraries built as ”temples of knowledge”.
In his speeches H. O. Lange used the phrase ”temple of the human spirit”. These
”temples” were characterized by classicism as the dominant architectural style with
monumental entrances, stylistic columns and high windows. The interior was
symmetrical with the adults circulating room as the central room of the building with
the adults reading room and the childrens room on each side. An auditorium might be
placed in the basement. This plan was compared with a butterfly with body and
wings. Often this type of library buildings was inspired by the Anglo-american
Carnegie libraries. In the the thirties some library buildings reflected the influence of
modernist architecture. An example of influence from the Bauhaus school is the main
library of Aarhus. In Scandinavia important libraries from this period were the main
library of Stockholm by Gunnar Asplund and the library in Viipuri by Alvar Aalto as
examples of respectively classicism and modernism. Aaltos first project in Viipuri
was strongly influenced by the Stockholm Library.
In Denmark a new style of library architecture was introduced in the Nyborg Public
Library in 1939. It was designed by Flemming Lassen and Erik Møller, who won a
compition in 1935. Both Lassen and Møller worked together with the architect and
designer Arne Jacobsen on other projects. The interior of the library was made in
collaboration with Hans J. Wegner. With simple forms i red brick architecture, an
entrance through a glass loggia and a unique site directly next to the canals around
Nyborg Castle the library represented both tradition and modernity. The inner space
was light and open, the interior panels and furniture were made of sycamore wood,
and all furniture and lightning were designed especially for the library. There were
no high windows, and from the rooms of the library you could look directly into the
surrounding park or into the canals. The library in Nyborg was a fine example of
regional architecture, in reflecting the ”genius loci”. It was a break through for a new
”Scandinavian Style” in library architecture as an expression of the cultural politics
of the wellfare state.
After the Second World War the development of international library architecture
was influenced by this new style, and Scandinavian libraries, ”light, spacious and
informal”, were often regarded as models for libraries elsewhere. (1) In a survey of
international library architecture from 1970 Michael Brawne writes: ”A good deal of
present day contribution originated in Scandinavia both as regards library services
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