Library Buildings around the World

landscape. Each zone has been given a character of its own. The Faculty for Economics and Management, for five thousand students
and four hundred staff, lies in a zone known as the ‘Casbah’. Based on the notion of this traditional North African form of
settlement, the long shallow building has only three storeys with a neutral facade enclosing a sheltered world of patios, rooms, halls,
footbridges, stairs and leisure places.
Space:
The building, which has a rectangular basic form, is a system of constantly converging or connecting spaces. Groups of students can
walk around the building with ease. The corridors and passages are framed by the classrooms and offices. The entrance area is the
assembly area or congress zone. It consists of a large open space in which the lecture rooms appear to hang. The balconies between
these closed boxes, the staggered layers and connecting links are places for the students to meet casually or enjoy a moment of
leisure. Focal points such as the multimedia centre and the restaurant are located on the ground floor. Light enters the building via
three large patios with different layouts. In the largest patio luxuriant bamboo suggests a jungle, while the other two are more calm –
a Zen garden and a ‘water’ patio provide a glimpse of the charming landscapes.
Veil:
The facade has various forms – sometimes exposed and sometimes with a veil or skin. Facades of cement slabs are concealed behind
steel grids and wooden lattices in seemingly random trellis patterns. Other parts of the facade have their entire breadth coverd with
gigantic blinds, a series of moveable aluminium lammellas. (Mecanoo)
Openbare Bibliotheek, Almelo – The Netherlands 1991 – 1994
Construction costs € 5.800.000, Gross floor area 4.780 m²
Literature:
de Architect 1995-2
Archis 1995-7
GA Document 45
Architecture in the Netherlands, Jaarboek 1994-1995
K. Somer - Mecanoo, architecten, 1995
The Times - 29/01/1994
Mecanoo’s building consists of two elongated volumes divided by a long well of stairs separated from the library itself, which fans
out in Aaltoesque fashion. The all but hermetic black brick slab contains services; the second slab housing all other library facilities
has a head elevation of bright blue enamelled glass, yet is dominated by the curved copper-clad front. On the ground floor this
portion is almost all glass and contains a reading room cum café, an information centre and the entrance and book issue desk,
marked by a void with a spectacular concrete ‘viewing-island’. The wealth of materials, forms and details add up to a heterogeneous
building. (http://www.architectureguide.nl)
The library is built on a small plot of The Beacon.The facade follows the curve on this side of the street.At the rear, the building has
a fan shape.By stairs and an elevator in the central atrium, visitors can reach the upper floors. It is in this project uses a variety of
materials.The building has a zinc roof, including the offices are located.The facade of The Beacon has a coating of copper.This wall is
a large window that overlooks the Town Hall Square and a number of small "portholes".At front end of the building, the walls are
lined with purple panels EMALIT.The rear is made of black bricks. (http://www.architectuur.org)
University Campus, Moskau – Russia on design
The master plan comes from the Dutch office Maxwan , one of the first building block to be de Architecten Cie.
(Amsterdam) design. Since it seems almost logical that the new, 40-acre university campus designed by an agency of Delft:
Mecanoo Architecten , who have now presented their plans. On the campus attracts the "National University of Science and
Technology" (MISIS), one of the leading technical universities in Russia.She gets here seven institution building, research
facilities, a library, a conference center, dormitories for up to 10,000 students and 3,000 employees as well as hotels, cafes, a
cinema and several shops. The architects: "The new campus receives through the woods and the lake is a natural beauty.The
central element is a campus park where people can meet. Also, the Institute building opened to the green areas. On the
lakeshore are the library and student center, each with their own identities have, a gateway, which will be both the
construction business for the new MISIS campus. "Among the ecological characteristics are that the campus will be
completely car-free, in addition to rain water natural lighting and ventilation are used.In addition, local materials are used
to be mostly built in prefabricated elements. (http://www.baunetz.de)
The National University of Science and Technology (MISiS) is one of the leading Russian technical universities and will lead
the country in its transition into an innovative knowledge economy. MISiS grew out of two prominent players in the
industrialization of the Soviet Union in the last century, the Moscow Academy of Mines and the Moscow Steel Institute. The
Nobel Prize in Physics for Professor Alexei Abrikosov’s work in the field of superconductivity launched the University into
the international spotlight in 2003. The new 100 acre MISiS campus will form the core and catalyst for the development of
Project A101, a new 13,000 acre district of Moscow where 300,000 new residents are expected over the next 20 years. The
campus comprises housing for 10,000 students and 3,000 academics, seven faculty buildings, several research institutes, a
library, business centre, hotel, recreation park, cinema, cafes and shops. A condition of the project’s financing by President
Medvedev is that construction shall begin by year’s end and the campus realised within 7-10 years.
Location:
The 100 acre site was donated by Masshtab development with the strategy of creating a strong catalyst for Project A101,
with the University campus at its heart. The campus is strategically located only three kilometres from the Moscow Ring
Road (MKAD) just east of the Kaluzhskoye Shosse highway which links Moscow with southern Russia. A future tramline
will run parallel to the university linking with Moscow city centre and Project A101.
Urban campus:
The campus holds a natural beauty with forest and valley lake as prominent festures. The campus plan embraces this quality
through a central campus park as the campus core. The park becomes the central public meeting place for staff, scientists,
students and professors to share ideas or socialise. The faculty buildings open out onto the park, furthering the atmosphere
of openess, innovation and cross fertilisation of ideas. The urban grid design provides planning flexibility to allow for future
growth and the two-phased construction. Building´s themselves shall be flexible so as to adapt to growing student numbers
and to the most advanced communication and media technologies that are sometimes difficult to anticipate. Facing the
lakefront and main entry to campus, the Student Centre and Library function as gateway buildings, each with their own
identity, and create a brand for the new MISIS, exhibiting the latest in sustainability and technology in order to attract
international students and top researchers. The campus residence typology is based on the principles of the courtyard and is
divided into townhouses, patio and courtyard, with each with green spaces featured strongly. The campus heart is car free,
providing a cohesive, safe and pedestrian friendly campus.
Sustainability:
35