Library Buildings around the World

concrete-clad light fixtures are rhythmically suspended below lowered ceilings. Perimeter spaces support computer kiosk stations, a
children’s reading area, seating areas, and book stacks. The center – largely open – is anchored by an information desk. There is also
a large meeting room and administrative offices. Finding inspiration in the language of African art and culture, the architects
layered and textured the interior and its functional elements with a warm palette of environmentally sustainable and durable
materials – brown synthetic wood, moss-colored cement board, copper-tinted steel, and burnt-orange Corian counter tops. Tucked
in a corner, the children’s reading area, which includes a cozy storytelling nook, is distinguished by a curvy, synthetic-wood wall that
snakes around and separates it from the main space. A clerestory that wraps around the upper-edge of the street front side brings
natural light to the interior, and offers a glimpse of the landscape’s mature trees and sky, creating an illusion of natural escape
within the dense city surroundings. The library was designed to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating. In addition
to employing sustainable construction materials, Hodgetts and firm principal Hsin-Ming Fung, AIA, incorporated an energy-savings
concept that uses sun shades, natural light, and photovoltaic panels for solar access gains. The panels cover the roof and extend over
the edge, forming a sleek, horizontal awning. The new library has indeed struck a chord with the community. According to Hyde
Park’s senior librarian Kren Malone, patronage and book circulation have tripled to 18,000 visitors and 9,000 books each month.
Los Angeles-based Hodgetts + Fung Design and Architecture was founded in 1984 by Hsin-Ming Fung, AIA, and Craig Hodgetts,
AIA. Fung’s background in artistic design and Hodgett’s engineering experience lend a playful, theatrical approach to architecture
while fusing technology and fabrication. Their monograph, Hodgetts + Fung: Scenarios and Spaces by Kurt W. Forster, is regularly
found on the desks of students. The firm has won more than 50 international international and national design awards.
( http://www.archnews.com )
Sylmar Branch Library (Los Angeles Public Library), Los Angeles CA – USA 2003
LOS ANGELES. More than 13 years after the LA Riots devastated South Los Angeles, the community is finding itself the benefactor
of recent private and civic investment, including the new Hyde Park Miriam Matthews Branch Library, whose acclaimed design by
Hodgetts + Fung Design and Architecture has been attracting residents into the library in record numbers. The ground-up, 10,500square-foot
library, which replaces the former, smaller Hyde Park branch saw its monthly book circulation quadruple following the
November grand opening. According to Branch Manager Kren Malone, the library has since maintained a monthly book circulation
of 9,000, which is triple the old librarys monthly circulation. The librarys patronage has also tripled to 18,000 visitors each month.
The Hyde Park community is fully embracing the new library and the services we offer, Malone says. Patrons are particularly happy
about the buildings color scheme and unique ceiling structure, which are always getting compliments.´The Hyde Park Miriam
Matthews Branch Library funded under the Los Angeles Public Librarys far-reaching bond program joins 35 new facilities that
have been constructed across the city. Hodgetts + Fung widely known as the architect for the new Hollywood Bowl designed the
library to reflect the culture of South Los Angeles. We wanted Hyde Park residents to interact and respond to the library, says
Craig Hodgetts, AIA, principal of Los Angeles based Hodgetts + Fung Design and Architecture, which also designed the public
library in suburban Sylmar. Instead of designing space sympathetic to Euro-American culture, we developed a fresh palette of
materials and textures that residents would identify with. Aesthetically, the library is in complete response to the people who occupy
it. ( http://www.sciarc.edu )
UCLA Towell Library , Westwood, Los Angeles CA – USA 1997
Our design for the Powell Temporary Library at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is conceived as a grouping of
tented land-forms arranged to receive the Westwood extension of the original campus axis and redirect it towards the active Student
Center to the south. The site is located between two Romanesque revival buildings and terminates Janss Memorial Stairway. It is
marked by a monumental classical balustrade, which we thought to integrate by the array of internal axes and radii to define the
building volumes. Thus, the semi-circular East Reading Room is tangential to the stair, while the circular West Reading Room is coaxial
with the balustrade. Since the project was subject to severe time and budget constraints, we chose to employ a re-usable
aluminum and fabric roofing system capable of rapid construction for the major enclosures, and to link them with an intentionally
varied ensemble of disposable masonry, wood and plastic substructures. An integrally-colored concrete block similar in hue to the
brick and limestone characteristic of the campus proper establishes the periphery of the land-form, suggesting the foundation of a
building which is no longer there, and reinforces, by contrast, the temporary nature of the structure which covers it. The resulting
assembly of rational individual components defines services and transition areas within the volume, while a braced steel substructure
carries the mezzanine and stabilizes the ribs at mid-span. As in an aircraft, decorative emphasis is placed on the orchestration of
fasteners, cables, and exposed elements necessary for the efficient operation of the library. Program Solution The design program
was to provide a structure to temporarily house the collection of the main undergraduate library during 2-1/2 year seismic
upgrading of the permanent library building. The architectural solution combined tensile, steel and masonry structures to create a
library "complex" of four distinct buildings; an open plan Main Library Hall and mezzanine housing the majority of the collection,
two reading room "pods" and an administrative wing. The structures were connected by passageways of informal "lounge" seating
and a central service core containing bathrooms and mechanical/electrical rooms. Unique Requirements The University required a
temporary building that would preserve the existing plaza between the historical Dance Building and the Men's Gym. The siting of
the structure integrated existing elements of the surrounding context and the foundations were designed to preserve the existing
paving beneath the building. The University intends to utilize the structure for other functions once the library seismic upgrading is
complete. The design of four separate buildings breaks down the mass of the project and provides versatility for a variety of other
programs to occupy the spaces. Library Director Statement Plan and design of the Temporary Library provided an opportunity to
accommodate modernized services and electronic access now prevalent in academic libraries as well as traditional study and print
oriented environments. Goals were to have an easily understood and logically organized facility with areas for activities requiring
human interaction such as online catalog use, reference tool consultation and interpretation, teaching and computer labs along with
areas more isolated to allow for concentrated individual study. The floor plan succeeded in providing such areas and provides a
variety of aesthetic experiences for users. ( http://www.arcspace.com)
Holabird & Root, Chicago – USA
http://www.holabird.com
Libraries:
Eastern Illinois University, Booth Library Renovation and Expansion, Charleston IL – USA 2002
Holabird & Root's renovation and expansion of the Booth Library preserves the integrity of the original library, reestablishes a clear
organization of spaces, and integrates current technologies. The design recreates the 1948 north entry of the library and restores
several original architectural details. A new, open atrium connects all floors with a grand staircase, while connecting the original
building and a 1968 addition. The atrium exposes the original south façade, brings natural light into the heart of the library, and
provides a central study/circulation area. (Holabird)
Constructed in 1948, the original collegiate-gothic university library included a large entry hall, reading rooms, and a central
circulation desk with closed stacks. While a 1968 addition provided space for growth, it detracted from the original character of the
building by covering the south facade, replacing the main entry with a side door, and creating a circuitous path through the building.
The architect’s design preserves the integrity of the original library, reestablishing a clear organization of spaces and integrating up-
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