Library Buildings around the World

José Antonio Martínez Lapeña, Elías Torres Architects, Barcelona – Spain
http://www.jamlet.net
Libraries:
Biblioteca Universitaria Tarragona – Spain 2003
Literature:
Gallego, Moisés. “Biblioteca Rovira i Virgili a Tarragona: José Antonio Martí-nez Lapeña i Elías Torres, arquitectes”. En:
Quaderns d’Arquitectura i Urbanisme, n. 251 (tardor 2006), p. 38-45
Jamlet. “Biblioteca, sales d’estudi i aules especí-fiques, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Sant Pere Sescelades, Tarragona”. En: Quaderns
d’Arquitectura i Urbanisme, n. 251 (tardor 2006), p. 46-47
“Obra seleccionada: Biblioteca per a la Universitat Rovira i Virgili: Tarragona”. En: IV Biennal d’Arquitectura Alejandro de la
Sota: 2005. Tarragona: Demarcació de Tarragona del COAC, 2005. ISBN 84-96185-59-1, p. 19
The project is a plaza with a public space, of relation between the library and the future service building, and a point of reference
from the fluxes of the students that access the building from different directions. The library occupies most of the parcel with a
compact building. The compact volume minimize the affects for the contextual surroundings of the future project. The access to the
library is located either from the stairs or directly from Carrer del Mig. One of the intentions for the project is the presence of
natural light and the disposition of the floor with a geometry that allows the possibility of maxim flexibility in the organization of the
different areas. The enclosure of the building attends to the control of sun exposure without renouncing to the interior illumination.
Only the northeast façade does not have solar protection. The principal hall of the library is organized as a free plan with windows to
the exterior in three of the façades to obtain a good relation with the exterior and with a sky light that guarantees the natural
illumination to the center of the building. (Martínez)
Posteriorment fa una petita descripció del Campus, amb edificis perimetrals resseguint els carrers perifèrics i amb tot l’espai lliure i
de relax concentrat a l’interior d’aquestes grans illes, amb els edificis oberts a aquest espai. En aquest context tan negatiu, s’hi havia
d’ubicar la Biblioteca del Campus. Els autors del projecte no van voler sotmetre’s a l’arquitectura imperant (tant del propi Campus
com per l’urbanisme resultant), i van adoptar solucions subtils per a trencar aquests condicionants del lloc, i fer-ho sense stridències.
Primer de tot cal destacar que la biblioteca es replega en si mateixa, en el seu propi edifici, intentant així- establir les mí-nimes
relacions possibles amb el seu entorn, un entorn que no agrada. Així-, les façanes de l’edifici són neutres, llises, sense cap element que
sobresurti ni que les identiqui ràpidament com a biblioteca. Per exemple, la interior, la sud, que dóna al pati d’illa, es soluciona amb
un seguit de finestres sense cap més significació. Així-, l’element extern més significatiu i identitari de la biblioteca seria el seu accés
principal, en un dels laterals de l’edifici, a la façana sudoest. És un accés elevat, en què destaca una gran passarel·la, i un gran bloc
unit a l’edifici, que serveix de “placeta” i d’element d’unió interior-exterior, i a on desenboca la passarel·la. A la façana externa
d’aquest gran bloc hi podem trobar, en grans lletres, “Biblioteca”. Pel que fa al programa, descrit en l’article firmat per Jamlet, les
sales d’estudi i d’informàtica es troben a la planta d’accés i a la inferior, mentre que la biblioteca s’expandeix entre la planta baixa i
la superior. (http://www.bauenblog.info)
Mateoarquitectura, Barcelona – Spain
Josep Lluis Mateo
http://www.mateo-mparchitect.com
Libraries:
Filmoteca de Catalunya (Film Library of Catalonia), Barcelona – Spain 2004 – 2010
First Prize. Restricted competition 2004. Client: ICIC (Institut Català de les Indústries Culturals), External colaborators: Structural
Engineering: OMA, Agustí Obiol. Installations Engineering: Grupo JG, Surface: 7.000 m2
PROCESS
My initial interest was in understanding the brief and the place. We built a model with fragments of what was to go inside, with no
specific attempt to give form or unity. We arranged this conglomerate at a tangent to one of the sides of the site, constructing a street
and freeing up a plaza in front of it. The next phase obviously required precision. The cinemas, a very important part of the project,
were put in the basement to reduce the volumetric impact of the building. The context then became stronger: the plaza became the
entire ground floor, and the material for its construction had to be concrete, uniting structure and finish in a continuous mass which,
to me, seemed to establish a relation with the shabby, dilapidated masses of its neighbours. I was particularly interested in the
volumetric expressivity of the short sides of the parallelepiped, and its potential to define the corners of the existing streets.
EXECUTIVE PROJECT. 2005
With our structural engineers we developed the previously defined concept, seeking to leave all the installations on show with no
false ceilings. We also sought to make everything tectonic and slightly primitive. This involved continuing the previous arguments.
CONSTRUCTION. 2007-2010
The construction process is extremely complex, having started with a long archaeological dig and continuing with all the excavation
and work involved in undergrounding the cinemas, a difficult task because the site is set in a former medieval lagoon. A building is
always the expression of intelligence and a sustained will, brought to bear on a specific place. We cannot abandon the project to its
fate. We have to accompany it until the idea, converted into matter and space, starts living its life. Then, we disappear; the building
no longer belongs to us. (http://www.e-architect.co.uk)
MedioMundo Arquitectos, Sevillia – Spain
Marta Pelegrin, Fernando Pérez
http://www.mediomundo.es
Libraries:
Biblioteca Cañada Rosal, Sevillia – Spain 2011
Programme: Municipal Library, Location: Plaza Sta. Ana, Cañada Rosal (Seville), Dates, phases: Competition: 2005, Project: 2006
Built/Completion: 2009, Awards: 1st Prize, Category: Library and Social Services, Area: 200 m2, Developer: Empresa Pública de
Suelo de Andalucía (EPSA part of the Regional Government of Andalusia), Collaborators: F. Orizia, A. Pérez, P. Alvarez, DimArq
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