MVRDV’s “mountain of books” in the center of Spijkenisse’s town market square has just been announced as winner of the internationally acclaimed red dot design award for “high quality design” in the Architecture and Urban Design category. The jury selected MVRDV’s Book Mountain from 4,662 entries submitted from 54 countries, lauding the project for its “highly refined detail”.
More information on the building after the break...
Serving both as advertisement and an invitation for reading, the illuminated glass walls of Spijkenisse’s new public library has been a significant and effective addition in a community with 10 percent illiteracy. Not only does the design offer a spectacular reading library, but the building also houses an environmental education centre, a chess club, auditorium, meeting rooms, commercial offices and retail. Clever stacking of the buildings commercial functions produces its pyramidal form, which in turn, is wrapped in the library’s 480 meters route along bookshelves to its peak where a café offers panoramic views over Spijkenisse. Underneath the library’s barn shaped glass envelope the book gains a strong educational presence in this formerly agricultural community located close the docks of the Port of Rotterdam.
The building was officially opened last October by Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. Find more information and images here on ArchDaily.
