Library Buildings around the World

all important as a whole. They transform what used to be an amorphous gap in the city into a piece of compect, significant urban
design. The institute comprises four main components with different functions: 1. the banana-shaped concrete archive building as a
new wall for the south side of Rochussenstraat; 2. a box-shaped, brick-covered exhibition hall as apendant to the Museum Boijmans
Van Beuningen opposite; 3. a transparetn (glass and steel) block on a series of columns for the library and administration, overhung
by an enormous steel canopy that turns it into a landmark; and 4. a socle (concrete in combination with glass and glass bricks) that
accommodates a café and lecture room as well as placing the NAI on a pedestal. The moat and bridge over it make an essential
contribution to the monumental quality of this complex. (Coenen)
Jeanne Dekkers Architectuur, Delft – The Netherlands
http://www.jeannedekkers.nl
Libraries:
OZW– The Netherlands 2006
20.350 m², € 2.300.000
The OZW health care and well-being training institute is a new landmark for the architectural landscape of the VU University. It
embodies an innovative training concept that combines intermediate and higher level vocational training programmes and university
programmes.The softly shaped brick walls that bring to mind the Amsterdam School are in keeping with the nature of the training
programmes. The window spacing emphasizes the verticality and main outlines of the exterior and immediately draws attention to
the transparency and vitality of the interior: a playful combination of training centres around atria. From the south side, the atria
gradually and diagonally lend access to the facilities. Long sightlines reduce the size of the building. From the base, for instance, one
can see al the way up to the sixth floor. The utility core is incorporated in the ‘back bone’.The private offices are at the far ends of
the building. The public base is transparent and the mysterious volume of the lecture hall inside catches the eye. The training
institute is a playful landscape to roam in, see people and meet people. (http://www.archdaily.com)
A remarkable building at De Boelelaan, next to the VU Main Building, home to the OZW, an experimental collaboration of a wide
range of care training courses at various levels, from vocational to university. A gentle and humane education building that clearly
fits care and therefore designed with flowing lines. The staggered, deep windows emphasize the height of the building. Because of the
size and scale use, the building became a stout appearance on the campus of the University, a predominantly straight, some
amorphous environment. With his towering character the weight of new principles and forms a benchmark for the future. The
building does justice to the new identity of education: transparency and layering of the various programs. They are both reflected in
the building. Daylight falls like a waterfall in through diagonal sight lines on different levels and thus promotes orientation and
interaction. The open learning centers, coupled with the voids, are the heart of the teaching of the various users and are easily visible
to both students and teachers. The interior exudes openness and color used to highlight a number of distinctive places. The most
striking element is the classroom, in the space of the main hall hangs a large oval volume. "Absolutely one of a stone building that
represents the aspirations of the VU." (http://www.architectenweb.nl)
diederendirrix b.v., Eindhoven – The Netherlands
http://www.diederendirrix.nl
Libraries:
Huis voor Cultur, Oosterhout – The Netherlands 2010
The House of Culture is the new home of gallery 5, De Bussel, H19 and the Film Theatre. The plan is part of the masterplan Sant
Oosterhout Rhine and the new cultural heart of Oosterhout. The program includes a theater with a great hall of 650 seats, two
smaller halls and restaurants, the library, the center of the arts, cinema, 40 homes and a 2-storey underground garage with
approximately 450 locations. Total approximately 27,000 m2 GLA. (diederendirrix)
De Hangar, Eindhoven – The Netherlands 2005 – 2009
In the center of Lake Empire VINEX district of Eindhoven, is a typical aircraft hangar along with several other valuable industrial
heritage buildings like the memory of the former airport Welschap alive. With the redevelopment and extension to a complex of
educational and recreational features, the hangar transformed into the vital cultural center of the district. A balcony at the hangar, a
sunken gymnasium with insight from the entrance patio, bridges the patio cross, a sunken garden, an elevated children's
playground, an amphitheater at the entrance of the community school, they are the essential ingredients that the recipe constitute a
clear, rational, orderly but vivid and idiosyncratic complex. Features: Community school (primary school, nursery, playgroup, after
school care, infant), library and media center, Center for the Arts, Community Centre, Youth Room, Gymnasium, Fit & Wellness
Club. (diederendirrix)
Vertigo, Technical University Eindhoven, Bibliotheek Bouwkunde , Eindhoven – The Netherlands 1998 –
2002
A smooth and continuous body with an ambiguous relationship between transparency and solidity. The old rugged hull has a new
special glass façade, based on the synergy between environment and aesthetics. The typical rhythmic structure of the original facade
with its ongoing IPE profiles is the dominant vertical lines. Between them, the glass is stacked in a succession of clear glass and
screen-printed glass. The hull with its grand portals and concrete cores remains a distinctive feature. The interior has the utilitarian
feature of the former laboratory building as an acceptable quality. The internal organization is focused on efficiency and flexibility.
Users are flexible, differentiated by a range of areas. Overview and spatial continuity with a generous view on the city skyline are the
qualities of the high floors. The floor height of 5200 is exploited to maximum effect to optimize the daylight. Concentration versus
communication, encounters and exchanges as a hermetic design concept, but primarily as a user activating environment.
Two special operations disrupt the rationality of the program. The building is designed as a combination of entrance and
amphitheater design. A second intervention concerns the sawing floor areas from the 6th floor which creates a high atrium. The
atrium acts as a binding layer spatial theme for the staff. The topical working chambers between floors to increase the contrast with
the generous space around. Project Team: B. Dirrix, H. Aspers, H. Knipscheer, H. Korteweg, I. Westerveen, J. van de Ven, M.
Vlemmix, R. Leunissen, R. Meurders; (http://www.architectenweb.nl)
When the former Chemistry Laboratory was converted into the new accommodation for the Faculty of Architecture, Building and
Planning, its bare concrete skeleton was refurbished with a curtain façade that strikes a balance between massiveness and
transparency. The smooth glass skin is a low-tech energy façade, and for that reason it is sealed for 70%. On the exterior, the glass
has an enamel print of the scaffolding of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia – architecture’s symbol of the for-ever-unfinished project. The
bare, sandblasted concrete, which bears every trace of this structure’s previous life, is present in the interior, which, by virtue of the
generous floor height of over 5 m, has plenty of air. The studios are located behind the horizontally organized facades at the bottom
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