Library Buildings around the World

platform that ties the components together internally. A one-acre courtyard planted with large trees is the primary outdoor public
space for this part of the campus.
The building forms and details relate to campus building traditions. The exterior surfaces are textured multi-colored brick set in an
English cross bond pattern, with cast stone accents and copper panels. The planetarium and the largest auditorium are emphasized
with argyle patterns like those on existing campus buildings.
An exterior colonnade reinforces the tall, linear auditoria lobby space. An adjacent circular stair to astronomy classrooms and the
planetarium is contained in a tall glass structure, creating a focus for the lobby as well as a location for a Foucault pendulum.
Physics and astronomy demonstrations are incorporated throughout the building: the Foucault pendulum, a sundial, crystal
formation and atomic grid patterns in patterned glass and tile, and carvings of physics and astronomy formulae in the cast stone
piers.
There are gathering spaces throughout the building, particularly at important entrances. The two-story building, which houses the
most used instructional spaces, includes a lobby used as a waiting space for students and for departmental gatherings and receptions.
Smaller spaces are used for informal meetings. Faculty offices are grouped in clusters around semi-open discussion areas, which
have become essential places for the exchange of ideas among faculty.
The building is designed to easily incorporate future changes. Where appropriate, labs are in a linear layout to provide flexibility for
function and size. The mechanical, electrical and other support systems of the building are also designed to allow easy conversion of
spaces should functional changes occur. In addition, the basement level contains 15,000 square feet of expansion shell space.
In 1997, the Physics and Astronomy Building received a Brick in Architecture Design Award from the American Institute of
Architects. (Pelli)
Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY – USA 1993
69,000 square feet / 6,000 square meters, 1993
The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center combines the academic requirements of teaching art history with the exhibition and support
requirements of a major regional museum. The new construction contains exhibition spaces, curatorial and administrative offices,
storage and conservation spaces. The renovated art history department includes classrooms, offices, slide and photography study
rooms and a library.
The Center responds to its position on campus. It establishes a presence at the main campus entrance and along Raymond Avenue,
the most public edge of the campus. Its connection to Taylor Van Ingen Hall, the existing art history department and former art
gallery, unifies the complex and establishes a dialogue between the two buildings.
The entrance to the gallery is a hexagonal glass pavilion. As a symbol of the Art Center, it connects to the art department by a
colonnade, reiterating the scale of Taylor Van Ingen Hall and creating a new forecourt for the complex. The gallery is situated
between Taylor Van Ingen and the Vassar Chapel on Raymond Avenue. The gallery is connected to Taylor Van Ingen by a glasswalled
passageway, creating a procession to the gallery and another small courtyard. The gallery wing entrance is a vertical space
with light emanating from high dormer windows. This space acts as an entry hall to the prints and drawings gallery, the permanent
gallery, and the temporary exhibitions area.
The exhibition spaces are designed for maximum flexibility on a near-cubic module 20 feet on each side with 4.5-meter-high (15 feet)
walls converging at six meters (20 feet) to clerestory windows. The clerestory brings down controlled natural light into the modules,
which can be joined and recombined freely for changing exhibitions. Limestone walls, infilled with rust-colored brick, complement
the fieldstone framed with limestone walls of the existing building. While Taylor Van Ingen repeats medieval forms, the new
structure, which is of similar proportion, materials and color, is expressed in a crisper and more abstract manner.
Together with the renovated and enlarged home of the Art Department, the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center contributes to the
high profile of the visual arts on the Vassar campus.
In 1996, the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center received an Honor Award from the AIA/Connecticut and the Taylor Hall received a
Preservation Award from the Preservation League of New York State. In 1994, the Center received an Honor Award from the AIA
Westchester/Mid-Hudson Chapter and a Certificate of Merit from the State of New York Executive Chamber. (Pelli)
Yale-NUS (National University Singapore) College, Singapore – Singapore 2015
667,000 square feet / 62,000 square meters, 2015
Yale-NUS College will be first liberal arts college in Singapore, offering four-year undergraduate degrees on a campus that
integrates learning and living. This new institution, jointly created by Yale University and the National University of
Singapore, will enroll up to 1,000 students. Adjacent to NUS’s University Town, the Yale-NUS campus comprises a central
campus green flanked by academic and administrative buildings as well as three residential colleges, each arranged around
its own courtyard.
Balancing the traditions of Yale with the cultures of Southeast Asia, the campus is designed in a contemporary architectural
language influenced by the climate of Singapore. Sun– and rain-screened colonnades and roofs with generous eaves are used
throughout the campus. Five-foot ways, the shaded walkways found alongside traditional Singapore shop houses, further tie
the buildings together. For clear and inviting processional entrances, the signature gates of the Yale campus are
reinterpreted with metalwork patterns inspired by Southeast Asian textiles. At the main entrance, glass-enclosed stairwells
and a colonnade are topped by an inward-sloping roof of grand scale. At the center of the roof is a square oculus, which
sends a dramatic cascade of rainwater into a large circular reflecting pool below.
The heart of the campus is a lush garden and arboretum with six heritage trees and an eco-pond that will capture and filter
rainwater. At opposite sides of the central green space will be academic and administrative buildings to include a library,
performance complex, science labs and sports center. The Learning Commons, which contains the library and a multi-media
center, will be set on a slope to symbolize the pinnacle of knowledge. Outside the Commons is the Agora, an open-air,
sheltered gathering place.
The residential colleges will be central to campus life. Students will expand their social and leadership skills while enjoying
the support of “nested academic communities.” These small-scale communities are arranged vertically in residential towers,
which contain both student suites and faculty apartments. Floors will be grouped into neighborhoods, each with its own
skygarden, a landscaped outdoor space for high-rise buildings that was pioneered in Singapore. In addition to residential
towers, the colleges will have their own dining halls and butteries, the informal student-run eateries that are a Yale tradition.
As an extension of the academic environment, the colleges will also have classrooms, seminar rooms, faculty offices, and
study spaces. To reinforce the distinct identities of the residential colleges, the design of the buildings within each will vary.
The campus is being designed to achieve the highest rating under the Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark,
Singapore’s benchmark for sustainable design. In addition to visible sustainable design strategies such as the eco-pond and
the frequent use of natural ventilation, the campus will integrate advanced building systems for energy efficiency. (Pelli)
Kurayoshi Library, Kurayoshi – Japan 2003
Collaboration with Apicella + Bunton Architects, New Haven CT (http://www.apicellabunton.com)
43,000 square feet / 4,000 square meters 2001
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