Library Buildings around the World

Atelier Antoinette Robain Claire Guieysse, Paris
http://www.archiguide.free.fr
D´Architecture 139, 8/9, 2004
Libraries :
Centre National de la Danse, Renovation, Paris – France 2004
(Jaques Kalisz 1972)
Awards :
Prix L´Équerre d´Argent
The first, unlucky life of the building began in the early 1960s, when the progressive communist mayor of Pantin, Jean Lolive,
commissioned architect Jacques Kalisz to design a new administration center for the town. The gifted young architect conceived an
expressive, sculptural building dominated by exposed concrete. It seemed at the time to be a statement against the coming trend in
curtain-wall architecture. After it was built, however, it was considered — by both the administration and the local population — to
be oversized for its context. Ambivalence led to negligence and to the building's eventual degradation. The steel inside the facade's
prefabricated concrete elements, some of which are only 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) thick, suffered from water infiltration and rusted.
Some of the facade elements began to break off. Several floors of the building were abandoned, and in 1996, civic officials decided to
close the whole building. Situated in front of the town hall and along the canal Ourq in the center of Pantin, the concrete monument,
an example of the brutalist movement, continued its slow and steady degradation. It became an eyesore for the town, and yet its total
demolition, less than 30 years after its inauguration, did not seem appropriate. Finally, in the late 1990s, a solution arrived when the
Ministry of Culture and the mayor of Pantin agreed to marry the old administration building with the homeless National Dance
Center and to begin a renovation. In December 2000, the French architects Claire Guieysse and Antoinette Robain won the
competition for the building's renovation. Today, Guieysse still expresses surprise at how easy it was to fit the new program into the
existing structure. She recalls that during the planning phase, it seemed as if the building had been designed from the beginning for a
more diverse program than that of an administration center. Rejuvenation and Rebirth The National Dance Center required 11
dance studios, three of which would be open to the public. The program also called for a library, classrooms, exhibition and
conference rooms, a cinema, a cafeteria, and offices. These spaces are distributed over 97,000 square feet (9000 square meters), on
four floors of the six-story building. Two floors have not been renovated but have been kept in their previous state for a possible
future extension of the program, if and when needed. The architects renovated the entire exterior and tried to restore the building's
initial appearance. The fragile reinforced concrete elements were repaired and protected through new chemical treatments.
But most of the design work was on the interior. The architects tried to adapt the existing structure to the new program while
keeping as much concrete exposed as possible. They centralized the program around the large, 85-foot- (26-meter-) long entry hall,
which stretches up to the sixth floor. This impressive space is dominated by a massive concrete stair and ramp leading gradually to
top. While the original building was completely oriented to the street and closed to the nearby canal on the opposite side, the
renovation architects opened the entry hall at several places to the canal and developed a greater transparency. Today, the cafeteria
and parts of the reception area are situated behind large glass facades with a view to the water. The architects designed a red wall
for the entry hall, behind the stair and the ramp, which extends to the hall's full six-floor height. Otherwise, unpigmented, exposed
concrete dominates the interior. Aztec-like patterns, which Kalisz cut into the concrete surfaces during the original construction,
give a certain aura of mystery. Because the building had not been originally constructed as a dance center, special attention needed
to be given to acoustic insulation. The existing concrete structure promoted sound transmission throughout the building.
To remedy this, each of the 11 dance studios was given a special treatment depending on its situation, configuration, and use. Two of
them were conceived as a "box within a box" and completely insulated from the surrounding walls, ceiling, and floor. To reduce the
cost of the renovation, the other studios were insulated through their floor structure and, when necessary, also on the ceiling and the
walls. ( http://www.architectureweek.com )
Bibliothèque Universitaire Santé, Extension, Rennes, Villejean – France 2000
Agence Gérald Rochet-Blanc, Le Cordonnet – France
http://www.architectes.org
Libraries :
Médiathèque Jean Moulin, École, Valentin (Besançon) (Dep. Doubs, Reg. Franche-Comté) – France 2003
Roubert Ravaux Clément architectes, Paris - France
http://www.rrcarchitectes.fr
Libraries :
Bibliothèque Carnegie Reims - France 1999 - 2005
J. Bléhaut associé
maître d'ouvrage VILLE DE REIMS
RESTRUCTURATION ET RÉHABILITATION
4 000 m2, 5,99M€ valeur 2006
Grand témoin de la reconstruction de la ville de Reims après la grande guerre, la Bibliothèque Carnegie (du nom du donateur
américain), symbolise parfaitement la qualité architecturale de l’époque art déco dans cette ville. « Carnegie » n’est pas simplement
un monument repaire dans la ville, c’est aussi un édifice dans lequel tous les arts concourent à la réussite de l’œuvre (l’art du vitrail
y est particulièrement bien présent). La rénovation-restauration a consisté à retrouver la fonctionnalité perdue originelle du lieu en
l’adaptant aux contraintes contemporaines, tout en mettant en valeur « les arts décoratifs ». (Roubert)
Christian Schouvey , Jaques Orth, Dôle – France
Libraries :
Médiathèque et Cinema, Belleville – France 2013
Médiathèque de Prêt, Extension, Réhablitation, Vesoul – France 2008
Médiathèque intercommunale, Sélestat – France 2008
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