Library Buildings around the World

Moshe Safdie and Associates, Somerville, MA – USA
http://www.msafdie.com
Libraries:
Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA – USA 2012
Literature:
Impact of Historical Preservation on the Free Library of Philadelphia: Its Neighborhoods and Communities, A Thesis
Submitted to the Faculty of Drexel University by Karen Frances Miller in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of Master of Science in Science, Technology & Society. August"2010.
(http://idea.library.drexel.edu/bitstream/1860/3375/1/Miller,%20Karen%20Frances.pdf)
June 2, 1927, the massive Central Library – Architect: Horace Trumbauer *28.12.1868 Philadelphia - + 18.09.1938 Philadelphia -
opened for service at its present location on Logan Square. The building had been in the planning stages since 1911; however,
various obstacles, including World War I, halted progress on the building.
Client Free Library of Philadelphia, Inception Date 2003-11-13, Total Area: Renovation: 170,000 sq. ft Expansion: 180,000 sq. ft.
Costs: $ ça: 185.000.000, Design Team Moshe Safdie and Associates Francis Cauffman Foley Hoffmann Kelly Maiello Architects
Finegold Alexander + Associates
The Free Library of Philadelphia located on Logan Square along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, is a Beaux-Arts building dating
from 1927. The objective of this project is to restore the existing building to its former glory and to add a new wing to accommodate
expanded activity and the types of spaces not available in the existing library. The design strategy is to ensure that the addition and
existing structure form a single integrated complex and to provide a unified spatial experience where the old flows seamlessly into
the new, while maintaining the authenticity of the traditional and the contemporary architecture.
A new reading room is formed between the north façade of the existing library and the curved wall of the south face of the new wing.
Two bridges connect the original building to the new wing, and glass-enclosed passageways are carved through the closed stacks in
the original library, connecting its main entry to the ne wing.
The “urban room”, lined with small shops, a café, meeting rooms and an auditorium, serves as the new north entry to the complex,
complementing the existing south entry. It is contained by the north façade of the library´snew wing and a grat domelike glass-andsteel
structure. A public garden extends north towards Callowhill Street, serving the surrounding community. (Safdie)
United States Institute of Peace, Headquarters, Washington, DC – USA 2011
Client United States Institute of Peace, Inception Date 2001-01-01, Completion Date 2011-04-01, Total Area 125,200 sq. ft. (11,631
sq. m.), Project Cost $186,000,000, Status Under construction; Estimated Opening Spring 2011
Located at the intersection of 23rd and Constitution Avenues, the United States Institute of Peace headquarters occupies the last
remaining site on the National Mall facing the Lincoln Memorial. The building will contain administrative offices, research facilities
including a library and archives, a public conference center, and an interactive education center dedicated to the themes of
international conflict prevention, management, and resolution. The building is organized around two atria fanning out from a corner
entrance. The first, facing the Potomac, serves as the centerpiece for the spaces devoted to scholarly research, while the other, facing
the Lincoln Memorial, acts as a focus of public activity and conferences. The public spaces in the building are roofed by a series of
undulating spherical and toroidal segments, constructed of steel frames and white translucent glass. The roofs form a series of winglike
elements, white on the exterior during the day, and glowing from within at night, and will be visible from across the bridges
from Virginia. (Safdie)
Salt Lake City Main Public Library – Salt Lake City, Utah – USA 1999 – 2003
Awards:
2005 Outstaning Design Award – AIA/ALA Library Building Awards
2005 2 nd Place – Theresa Bradley Spirit Award for Professional Interior Design – Salt Lake Design Awareness Foundation
2004 National Honor Award – American Institute of Architects
2004 Engineering Excellence Grand Conceptor Award – American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), Utah Chapter
2004 Excellence in Concrete Award – American Concrete Institute, Intermountain Chapter
2003 Honor Award AIA, Western Montain Region
2003 Best of the Beehive Award Salt Lake Magazine
2003 Best Utah Project of the Year Intermountain Contractor – Best of 2003 Awards
2003 Best Public/Institutional Building PCI ( Precast / Prestressed concrete Institute ) Design Awards
The Salt Lake City Main Public Library features a triangular- shaped main building, an adjacent administration building, a glassenclosed
Urban Room and an exterior public piazza. A curving climbable wall weaves the site together and contains shops and food
establishments as well as steps ascending to a roof garden above. The building´s glass-enclosed Urban Room and piazza flow
together uniting interior and exterior spaces. The Urban Room is conceived as a space for all seasons, gnerously endowed with
daylight, open to significant views and, since it extends the full height of the building, is a pivotal point of visual orientation. Multilevel
main reading areas along the transparent southern façade of the building look out onto the piazza, the city and the Wasatch
Mountains beyond. At night the glass façade, lit from within, is refelcted in a crescent-shaped refelcting pool extending into the
outdoor space. ( http://www.vcbo.com )
Hebrew College, Newton, MA – USA 1996 – 2002, Phase II on design
Client Hebrew College, Newton, Massachusetts, Inception Date 1996-01-01, Completion Date 2002-01-01, Total Area
110,000 sq. ft. (12,000 sq. m.), Project Cost Phase I, $18 million, Status Phase I: completed, 2002; Phase II: in design
The site for Hebrew College, Newton, incorporates the northern wooded slope below it, occupied by Andover Newton Theological
Seminary. Several buildings are organized along the hillside and contain within them the heart of the campus - the green commons.
Facing the green is a two-story linear library, viewed from the green as a continuous line of reading tables along a great glass wall,
with the library stacks arranged as a backdrop, thus subtly evoking the theme of The People of the Book. An entry building/gateway
to the west contains a lecture hall, museum, and administrative offices. Another linear structure, facing the library across the green,
accommodates classroom and faculty offices, both of which face the wooded hillside. The interior heart of the campus is the level
below the green, open to sky through sunken courtyards and skylights. This student center contains a cafeteria, bookstore, and
computers. (Safdie)
Rosovsky Hall, Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel, Cambridge, MA – USA 1992 - 1994
Client Harvard University Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel, Inception Date 1992-01-01, Completion Date 1994-01-01, Total Area
21,000 sq. ft. (1,950 sq. m.), Project Cost $3,650,000, Status 1992-1994
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