Library Buildings around the World

Mediacenter – The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, Hilversum – The Netherlands (design
1999) 2006
Support: Bureau Bowkunde
30.000.000 m², € 40.000.000
The new building for the Netherlands Institute For Sound And Vision consists of five levels under ground and five levels above
ground. In the underground, the national archives of Dutch radio and television recordings are stacked around a deep canyon.
Above ground, a staged volume contains the media museum. The third element is the office building of the institute. The three
volumes together enclose a large public atrium. The facade of the building is a screen of coloured relief glass that depicts famous
images of Dutch television, a composition by graphic designer Jaap Drupsteen. (Neutelings)
Shipping and Transport College, Rotterdam – The Netherlands 2001 – 2005
Support: ABT Bouwkunde
Program: 30.000 m2, Costs: € 40.000.000
This seventy metres high tower has a mixed program of educational spaces, offices and public functions. A route of escalators links
the different departments from the lobby all the way to the top. The low-rise part of the building contains the special facilities like
simulator rooms, restaurants, a media centre, a sports centre, and workshops. The cantilevered conference room overlooks the Port
of Rotterdam, while the stepped student restaurant on the ground floor overlooks the Maas river. The meandering building volume
forms a vertical icon for this international centre of maritime knowledge. (Neutelings)
Nowotny Architects, Delft – The Netherlands
http://www.nowotny.nl
Libraries:
Trevianum School, Sittard (Prov. Limburg) – The Netherlands 2005
The school has 2,500 pupils and 220 staff with one of the largest schools in the Netherlands. The design has put the urban power of a
large building, combined with the small scale for the welfare of pupils is important according to the credo of the school each pupil
counts. " The new buildings and existing building as a multifaceted and colorful ensemble designed the building in which
recognizable spatial and geometric units grouped together with the old building and an inseparable whole. The units differ in shape,
color and materialization. This creates visibility for individuals and groups, clarity, and identity. Space for large and small groups.
The new building consists of three parts with an area of approximately 9,000 m2. The units of the new building are named for their
shape: Boat, Shell, and Hook. The bridge is shaped like a ship. The existing and the new building are considered as a bridge anchors,
each with a social heart in the form of an atrium. The exterior of the existing building is constructed of dark brick. Then pick up
following a gradient to an orange (wooden) skin for the shell and yellow brick for Hook, interrupted by the attention when the white
bridge. The addition of the new building on the old building was a linear structure that asked for meeting spaces and spatial to
create differentiation. The telescoping of the recognizable geometric entities created, in addition to the atrium and the transfer zone,
geometrically indeterminate restrooms as corners and stay places they serve. Space for informal meetings and consultations. The
whole complex is home to the students. A village with two large squares, one passage and numerous squares, interconnected and
permeated by multiform streets and roads. The application of voids and numerous vistas creates transparency and safety. The color
concept is interacting with the concept of space and form. The spaciousness is the concept and the color lines in floors walls and
ceilings supported and also unexpectedly changed. This creates a walkable painting in an interplay of security and resulting
impulses. A stimulating work environment with spatial color and material incentives. The existing building has remained the domain
of the substructure, the new second phase explicitly focused on education. The upper floor of the bridge is divided into zones and
transfer library, staff rooms downstairs offers. Nowotny awarded the students a glimpse through the glass cone in the staff room. "A
reference to the Berlin Reichstag by Norman Foster in which the audience looks down at the administrative center, the plenary
hall." Shell Hook and offer a collection of classrooms, group work areas, work stations and computer equipment itself. Movable
walls create flexible layouts in the time available. The atrium is the second major meeting of the school. Nowotny chose an organic
design. "Liquid but still coherent, an outline that yields a natural circulation. You must atrium and surrounding areas really look
like an urban landscape. The compositions are a la Kandinsky. Lots of color, form powerful, expressive. " Because of the budget of
around 15.5 million euro would be awarded through a European tender. Ultimately, especially the concept of color Nowotny - as it is,
especially influenced by the color and richness of Memphis Mendini - decisive. "I use color to compensate for the strenuous training
company. Spaciousness, colors and materials have been translated into a stimulating environment. Corners, staying places,
smallness, exciting colors and lighting concepts combat the threat of a large, anonymous leather company. " Inside the different
areas flow into each other. The ellipse is a recurring guide. Not only in head shapes and details such as bay windows, as well as color
lines. Sometimes even the deconstructive. Like the yellow / green wall of the atrium - "as if a sheet is folded. The opposite blue
window suggests a rounded shape that there really is not. It is this combination of organic design and color variation that each
corner of the building unique and recognizable, Nowotny emphasized. "Variegation increases the versatility of the design. The
building is a village that derives its power from unexpected changes. That is the secret of a small pleasant environment. Color is used
as an art form. " (http://architectenweb.nl)
OIII Architecten, Amsterdam – The Netherlands
http://www.o-drie.nl
Libraries:
Cultur – een Uitgaanscentrum De Graaf Wichmann, Huizen – The Netherlands 2001
In a building housing, work, restaurants, a cinema theater complex, snooker, pool, bowling and the municipal library combined. The
shape of the building, located next to the town, is partly motivated by the desire to strengthen coherence of the environment and the
center of the church more meaningful. The horizontal curved wall on the north side borders the area. On the west side responding to
the small scale of the historic village. The complex consists of two main volumes. The commuter volume appears under the curved
roof to continue and then culminates in the Grand Café. Cultural and entertainment center is conceived as a spatially continuous
container with a peak of activity in front of the bus. This fluid space form is both complex program of activities planned and
organized response to the large differences in scale and function of the surrounding area. (OIII)
TU Delft TPM (Faculty Technology, Policy, Management) Library, Delft – The Netherlands 2000
The merging of two faculties (philosophy and administration) is a new department formed large 12,400 m2. The design includes the
construction of a simple U-shaped building volume that is a sunny courtyard. This is mainly offices and project rooms situated. The
restaurant on the ground floor facade is transparent and offers views of the beautiful chestnut trees to the Jaffalaan. In the Garden
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