Library Buildings around the World

Italy
2A+P/A Associates, Roma – Italy
Gianfranco Bombaci, Matteo Costanzo
http://www.2ap.it
Libraries:
IED LIBRARY, Rome – Italy 2009
Client: IED Istituto Europeo di Design, Year: 2009, Size: 400 m2, Costo: 100.000 €
The project is the transformation of a car components shop into a library and reading rooms for the European Institute of Design
(IED). (2°+P/A)
Maria Grazia Cutuli School, Herat – Afghanistan 2011
2000 m², € 150.000
The building is comprised of a boundary line formed by a seemingly random arrangement of modules. It hosts eight
classrooms, a double-height library, a secretarial office, staffrooms and a caretaker’s house. Both external and internal
spaces contribute to the shaping of the educational environment. (2°+P/A)
In 2001 Maria Grazia Cutuli, a prominent Italian journalist correspondent for the Milan-based daily Corriere della Sera,
was murdered by a group of gunmen who ambushed her convoy in Afghanistan. After this tragic event, her family
established the Maria Grazia Cutuli Foundation that aims to support programs on the fields of education and social
promotion, for children and women, in those countries devastated by war or natural calamities, especially in Afghanistan.
The beauty of the landscape, described in Maria Grazia’s articles, gave us initial suggestions for developing the concept. The
research for an innovative educational space as an alternative to those models related to the after-war reconstruction
emergencies has been one of the key points of the project as well as the design of the outside space as a ‘green classroom’ and
the attempt to use local technologies and construction materials mainly.
IDEA / CONCEPT: The school stands on a dry landscape characterized by the brown colour of the soil. Few constructions
come out from this flat and dusty territory, as enclosed islands surrounded by border walls. To the north the skyline is
defined by the dark Hindu Kush Mountains. The first challenge has been the research of a layout able to match functional
needs and evocative spaces. After several meetings supported by lots of sketches and study models, the workgroup chose an
articulated layout: a series of linked boxes containing both the classrooms and the connection corridors. The only two-floors
volume is the library that acts as a symbolic landmark for the village. The border walls, which were required for security
reasons, define, together with the boxes, a complex sequence of voids and volumes. Both external and internal spaces
contribute in the definition of the educational environment. Among the classrooms there are small and intimate outdoor
spaces where kids can stay, play and relax under the shadow of about fifty trees. The main courtyard, embraced by the
building represents, the most relational space of the school. Inside the school area and protected by the walls, there are also
different vegetable gardens as a natural extension of the classrooms.
REALIZATION: After the first stone setting, the works started immediately and proceeded very quickly. Afghan workers
carefully followed our drawings but using different construction processes from ours. We use to build the structural frame
and afterwards the walls enveloping the spaces. While Afghani construct all the elements at once, foundation, pillars, walls
and only at the end the concrete beams and roof. In a certain way their construction methods are similar to the ones used in
Italy for the reconstruction after the Second World War. Every week we received from the work’s director, the engineer
Taheri, reports, pictures and updates on the percentage of realised works. It was not so easy to control all details at such a
distance and thus, at the end of November 2010, three members of the workgroup visited the site to define the last finishing.
MATERIALS: The structure of the building is a reinforced concrete frame, closed by solid bricks. All the materials and the
applied technologies have been defined according to the local uses. All the façades and the border walls will be painted using
different tones of blue. This colour is usually used in Afghanistan and the aim of the project is to create a blue landmark
visible from the surroundings. The orientation of the classrooms and the design of the façades have been thought to assure
the right amount of daylight and natural ventilation. The windows have been designed as iron frames, painted in red to
make contrast with the blue of the walls.
PROJECT COSTS: Construction cost is about 150.000 €, including expenses for the realisation of the garden. Maria Grazia
Cutuli Foundation has provided for all the funds. The Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera will donate fifty
computers and the Provincial Administration of Catania is going to grant the realisation of the school playground. The
colour fabric Coloroficio San Marco from Venice, donated the whole amount of paintings.
(http://europaconcorsi.com/projects/182705-Maria-Gracia-Cutuli-Primary-School)
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