Library Buildings around the World

The first floor is the main public space. The music department is found on the second floor.
"Here, the books play the main role", comments Tuomo Siitonen, the architect. "Natural light, the painted, light-coloured concrete
surfaces and the slab grillage ceiling form the background that is awakened to life by the books."
Joensuu main library was awarded the Concrete Building of the Year Prize in 1992. The jury praised the exceptionally harmonious
and finished style which takes into account the scale of the surroundings. (http://buildings.libraries.fi)
Arkkitehitoimisto Hannu Jaakkola Oy, Helsinki – Finland
http://www.ark-jaakkola.fi
Libraries:
Vidhin pääkirjasto (Vihti Main Library) 1990 – 1998
The library has been designed to be the parlour of the residents of Vihti. Two of the three floors are open for the public.
The main floor is divided into different levels: the circulation desk and reference service, adults' fiction and non-fiction and the
children's department. The music department and the youth department are on the 2nd floor.
The library offers reading and team-work rooms for quiet work, a newspapers and magazine reading room, two conference rooms
and a children's story corner.
The library also offers exhibition space with display racks and glass cases. The staff offices are mainly situated on the 3rd floor. The
interior solutions make the customer floors open to the nature outside and fill the space with natural light.
The name of the library
The Municipal Library of Vihti (main library) named "Agricola"
The name of the municipality/organization
Vihti
The population of the community covered by the library
over 27 000
The location of the library
In a central location in Nummela, (Pisteenkaari 9, 03100 Nummela), the library is located near the market place. The building has
been beautifully landscaped.
The library is a new construction. The floor area 2300m². The library was opened in 1998
Designed by
Architectural office Hannu Jaakkola. The building project was carried out as a modification of the original Agricola proposal of
Hannu Jaakkola and Tapani Kerttula. The proposal won the first prize in an architectural competition held in 1990.
The total expenditure of the construction Building cost + furnishing app. 3,2 million (http://www.buildings.libraries.fi)
JKMM Architects, Helsinki – Finland
http://www.jkmm.fi
Libraries:
Moby Dick, Vantaa Cultural City, Vantaa – Finland 2004 – 2014
CITY OF CULTURE
The plan is progressing for the educational, cultural and recreational centre rising up next to the Science Centre Heureka. The City
of Vantaa held a competition concerning the construction of the Vantaa City of Culture project as a whole in January 2007. The
winner of the competition was SRV Group Plc. The area will be developed into a unique rendezvous of intelligence, discovery,
knowledge and experience.
The altered city plan entered into force in January 2007. The planned area is primarily intended for buildings that house cultural
activities, but space has also been reserved for a hotel, office buildings and small shops, as well as for public service companies or, for
example, sports facilities. The entire area of the planned plot is approximately 7.5 hectares with a permitted building area of 64,000
m2. A parking lot will be built for a total of 1,000 cars.
Heureka learning centre
The City of Culture consists of many parts that are joined together by a covered indoor street. Five hundred metres long and at the
most one hundred metres wide, the building embraces the visitor with pleasant summer climate throughout the year. The cultural
centre designed by JKMM Architects successfully met Heureka’s architectural challenge. The building runs smoothly with the shape
of the ground beneath it and adapts easily to changes, and is able to accommodate a large number of different interior solutions.
Premises will be reserved in Heureka’s expansion for the learning centre.
Heureka is a cultural and educational institution that offers an open learning environment for those interested in science and
technology. The purpose of the learning centre is to utilise the versatile, intellectually stimulating content of Heureka in the teaching
provided by schools and other educational institutions as broadly as possible. These activities will be significantly increased by
founding a new learning centre in Heureka.
When planning the content, the specific needs of different fields of science will be taken into account regarding the furnishing and
equipment for the premises. All working areas will have the most modern equipment, which will be replaced on a regular basis.
The learning centre will also make it possible to implement the Heureka camp school on wider terms than the present science camp
activities. The camp school offers the opportunity to research different themes or even to concentrate on one theme during a period
of one or two weeks.
Some 75,000 schoolchildren visit Heureka annually. The learning centre will organise programmes in their own premises for
approximately 50,000 people and distribute their products throughout the school system in the whole country, as well as running
international programmes, particularly related to the EU. (http://www.skyscrapercity.com)
Seinäjoki Library, Seinäjoki – Finland 2012
Competition 2008 1 st prize, 4.500 m², € 10.000.000, Client City of Seinäjoki
Fri, 26/10/2012
The Finnish town of Seinäjoki hosts the most extensive cluster of buildings designed by Alvar Aalto in the world. Asmo Jaaksi of
architects JKMM explains his practice’s approach to designing a new addition to this hallowed Aalto Centre
The Centre displays Aalto’s masterful touch, ranging from the area’s town planning to the smallest door detail and is an invaluable
cultural asset which gives the whole town its identity. Five Aalto buildings make up the Centre: the City Hall, State Office Building,
Theatre, the Cross of the Plains Church and the Old Library.
DIALOGUE BETWEEN OLD AND NEW
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