Library Buildings around the World

with wireless connectivity. The north court and central garden/café combine with a 200-seat auditorium and multi-purpose rooms to
offer a dynamic venue for public use. In addition, a small museum and flexible spaces can alternately accommodate exhibitions and
informal presentations. The building serves as an urban oasis at the center of fast-paced residential and commercial redevelopment,
earning its title as the “Living Room of the City.” (Moore)
Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library, UCLA School of Law, CA – 1998
Our design for this 130,000 sf library takes full advantage of its restricted site as it establishes a strong identity for the entire Law
School. The library is composed of places that function at multiple scales for individuals, group study, and events. The formal
renovated main reading room and other public areas are located on the main level adjacent to the collection, while more secluded
study areas at upper levels provide space primarily for the Law School community. The core collection is now organized as centrally
as possible to minimize direct outside light and is arranged for continuity with the existing stacks. A corner tower with spectacular
views to the city and mountains creates a major icon for entry into this district of the campus.
The massing of the building is carefully sculpted to mark the eastern corner of a major east-west campus axis while transitioning
back to the scale of the adjacent Law School buildings. New faculty offices are located next to the library on upper floors and link to
existing faculty offices. All of these enjoy mountain and courtyard views and share a rooftop trellised patio. The library’s exterior
composition offers a fresh interpretation of the University’s traditional scale, massing, and materials, including patterned brick,
precast concrete trim, and glass. (Moore)
Stadtbibliothek Reinickendorf (Tegel), Humboldt Bibliothek, Berlin – Germany 1989
Associate Architect: Abeln Lubitsch Skoda
Im Rahmen der Internationalen Bauausstellung IBA 1984 – 1987 ist mit der Humboldt-Bibliothek am Tegeler Hafen ein
besonders einprägsamer Ort entstanden. Ein langgestrecktes Gebäude, von außen klassizistisch und zurückhaltend, bietet es
im Innern ein beeindruckendes Raumerlebnis: ganz im Sinne des Architekten Charles Moore zieht die Architektur die
Menschen an, erzählt und weckt Erinnerungen an bereits erlebte und gesehene Bauten, schafft Freiraum für die Phantasie
und stellt die Verbindung her zu bereits vergangenen Zeiten. Die meisten Besucher lassen sich ein auf dieses Erinnerungs-
Angebot, entdecken Ihren persönlichen Ort, mit dem sie sich identifizieren und an dem sie gern verweilen. Die eingebauten
Bücherwände über zwei Etagen erinnern an barocke Klosterbibliotheken, und die großzügige dreischiffige Halle fordert
verschiedene Vergleiche heraus: vom Sakralbau bis zur Industriearchitektur. Seit Eröffnung im Jahr 1989 wird die
Bibliothek von ca. 1.500 Lesern täglich besucht, denen ein vielfältiges Medienangebot zur Verfügung steht. Sie hat sich aber
auch zu einem kulturellen Ort entwickelt, denn Moores Architektur bietet den idealen Rahmen für Ausstellungen,
Lesungen, Konzerte und Preisverleihungen. Die zahlreichen Fachbesucher und Architektengruppen aus dem In- und
Ausland, die in den letzten Jahren die Bibliothek besichtigt haben, zeugen von dem großen Interesse, das dieses postmoderne
Bauwerk hervorgerufen hat. ( http://www.stadtbibliothek-reinickendorf.de )
This 48,000 sf branch library forms the first phase of the Cultural Center for the Tegel Harbor Master Plan, created by
Moore Ruble Yudell after winning an international design competition. The library covers a full range of related activities,
from music, graphic art, lending children’s programs, and youth programs, to general public use. Its design brings this
varied program together in a loft-like building which combines industrial and classical elements. Its classical façade is
broken by a glassy entrance bay framed by a pair of free-standing portals. These lead to a central rotunda encircled by an
arcaded balcony at the second floor. From the rotunda, a grand wall of books meanders along one side of the main reading
room, and gives access to the open stacks and smaller reading alcoves beyond. A double-layer, vaulted ceiling lit by a
clerestory window brings light through the lower vault. On the north side, the light is balanced by a series of bay windows
and doors that alternate with niches for books.
The industrial toughness of the exposed steel and concrete frame on the interior is contrasted with a playful, almost baroque
set of details for the arches and ceiling. The metal sash, stucco and standing seam zinc roof on the exterior combine with
spare classical elements of precast concrete. High volume spaces and natural ventilation provide controlled cooling as the
combined thermal mass and insulation of heavy masonry construction greatly enhance heating. Use of a carefully baffled
south-facing clerestory provides daylight in all seasons, minimizing the need for artificial lighting in the reading areas and
reducing energy consumption. (Moore)
Morphosis Architects, Los Angeles – USA
http://www.morphopedia.com
Libraries:
Dr. Theodore Alexander Science Center School, Los Angeles, CA – USA 2002 – 2004
196,000 gross sq ft / 18,208 gross sq mProgram: K-5 elementary school and Science Education Resource CenterDesign:1993 -
2001Construction:2002 - 2004Type:Educational, Project Credits Morphosis Team, Mechanical Electrical Plumbing EngineerDonn
C. Gilmore Associates, Structural EngineerEnglekirk and Sabol Consulting Engineers
The Armory’s Main Hall, converted into a flexible, open two-story atrium and dominated by a large interior bamboo garden, is the
heart of the Science Education Resource Center. Libraries, labs, meeting rooms, and classrooms flank the atrium’s perimeter and
are provided access to the new North school building via a pair of bridges that lead across an outdoor garden lunchroom. The
interior bamboo garden, pierced midway up by skywalks and punctuated with meeting spaces is meant to bring a piece of nature
into this somewhat blighted inner city environment. It is possible, once the bamboo is fully grown to find a space of respite among
the plants or to use areas carved into the midst of the planted space as an experiential teaching opportunity.
The new North building burrows into sculpted earthworks along Exposition Boulevard; its landscaped roof is perceptually an
extension of the garden. Classrooms are grouped in clusters of four that share a common room, to provide an open and flexible
teaching environment. In response to the Exposition Park master plan and to highlight the historic Armory, this “non-building”
nestles into excavated land below grade, its program essentially tucked and embedded into the park. The structure emerges quietly
from the adjacent Rose Garden — a welcoming and protective environment for children that has forgone the traditionally overt
sense of enclosure of most public schools. From the vantage point of the Rose Garden, the roof appears as ground plane, whereas
from the heavily trafficked Exposition Boulevard, the building appears autonomous and active. The project engages the site and the
community and is perceived as both an intervention and a connection between the disparate adjacent conditions. Morphosis
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