Library Buildings around the World

Japan
Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, Osaka – Japan
http://www.andotadao.com
Libraries:
Museum of Picture Books for Children (Picture Book Library), Iwaki City, Prefecture Fukushima –
Japan 2005
The building occupies 492.07 m² of space, with the total floorspace amounting to 634.05 m² in Ando's building. Decorations are
minimal, largely consisting of the books themselves in a cover-out display that dominates the space. The only three materials uses in
the building are fair-faced reinforced concrete, glass, and wood. Though some may consider concrete a sterile or bland material,
Ando sees it as warm and complex. He states, “Concrete can be very rich in color … the gradations of color create a sense of depth”.
The simplicity of color is noted by some reviewers who mention the fact that the Western notion of child-friendly decor is less stark
and angular. In the Picture Book Library the only color is supplied by the bright patterns of the books themselves. The corridors are
kept deliberately dark, in defiance of a possible Western preference for evenly light-filled spaces. “You will be able to see the light
because of the darkness,” says Ando. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
International Library of Cildren´s Literature, Tokyo – Japan 2002
Located within Ueno Park, The International Library of Children's Literature, a branch of the National Diet Library, is a
renovation and expansion of the former Imperial Library built in 1906 and expanded in 1929. The subtle interventions of Ando
create a dynamic juxtaposition between the old and the new while creating the first national library dedicated to children's
literature. The interventions of Ando are quite simple and elegant; a glass volume that pierces the renaissance-style street facade at a
slight angle to form an entry, a continuation of this glass volume on the courtyard side to form a cafeteria, and a full height glass
facade on the courtyard side that encloses a lounge space between it and the existing facade flanked on each end by a concrete
volume containing vertical circulation. The transparency and weightlessness of the glass facade allows for the continual reading of
the old through the new. The existing facade was restored exactly as it was and the structure of the existing building was reinforced
structurally against earthquakes. This new lounge area has a columnless interior, the glass facade supported only by vertical fire
resistant steel supports. Because of its transparency and weightlessness it reads as part of the terraced exterior courtyard space.
In addition to the insertion of these glass volumes, concrete volumes and glass facade, Ando inserted two beautifully crafted wood
cylinders into what used to be the reading room and is now the Children's Book Museum on the third floor. The form of these
cylinders follows the form of the existing molding on the ceiling and defines smaller, more intimate, exhibition spaces within the
larger room. When seen from outside of the room, they are provocative objects within a traditional space of white plaster moldings
(http://www.galinsky.com)
Atelier bow-wow, Tokyo – Japan
http://www.bow-wow.jp
Libraries:
Ikushima Library, Kokubunji – Japan 2008
site area 123.89 sqm, building area 47.07sqm, total floor area 96.56sqm, structure wood
Two of my favorite projects by the Tokyo firm Atelier Bow-wow are the Nora House (shown above) and the Ikushima Library. One
aspect of their work I find especially interesting is how they often refrain from creating all-white spaces. Most of their firm peers
stick to white walls, floors, and ceilings, eschewing the expression of a building's structure and materiality in an attempt to make the
building's reality feel evanescent. Conversely, Bow-wow often makes use of structural expressionism and tangible building materials
to ground their spaces. Their use of these methods is not ideological, as it is in many Western practices. The use of structural grids or
rules often becomes a piece of the building parti in the West. In contrast, Atelier Bow-wow makes their wood structures emphasize
the strange forms their buildings often take-on. In other words, the form of the building drives the structure, and the structure is
used to reemphasize the form. The strangely shaped roofs in the Nora House become more tangible and real when you see the simple
framing system used to hold them up. Likewise with the Ikushima Library. The wood slats of the library ceiling are laid in the
direction of the ceiling's apex, emphasizing its pavilion-like shape. Along with the horizontal lines of the bookshelves, the space feels
dynamic while at the same time static. The house is just as much a place for books and learning as it is for living. To quote the
architects: "We came up with a space for the books first and then imagined people living there... in this house dedicated to the
printed word, books are the only thing visible from the street. The people here are only lodgers."
(http://intotheloop.blogspot.com/2010/08/nora-house-and-ikushima-library-by.html)
AXS Satow Inc., Tokyo – Japan
http://www.axscom.co.jp
Libraries:
Sugito Town Library – Japan 2005
4.434 m²
Harajo Library, Minami Shimabara – Japan 2005
1.714 m²
Daito City West Municipal Library – Japan 2005
2.436 m²
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