The concept design for the extension of the city library by Studio Metar results from the thesis that a contemporary library is a source of information with unlimited access. The message of the design lies in the mentioned thesis, but it should also be emphasized that the idea of a library is a reserved, quiet, isolated, static, but not transparent place filled with books, due to the increasing need for faster and better access to information and a more complex lifestyle, is not viable in the present age. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Information is free. It is not and cannot be material. Information is a message. The thesis results in the idea of a transparent space which will provide availability of information and communication between users. Exchange of ideas and contact with other people is a very important source of information and the design deals with this issue and explores the possible spatial models which result from it.
Multifunctional space, distribution and creation of the new library program enables and encourages the encounter and mixing of various user groups. ‘Boundaries’ between the spaces are materialized as transparent in a way to provide basic conditions (silence) for corresponding activities but without isolating them from other spaces of the library. This way, a continuous but essentially different form of contact is provided.
The building achieves the same relationship with the public space of the old part of the town. The old City Library and the Antique shop are joined by the new building into a unique integral space which enables further extension of the Library. Also, its radically simplified facade with large transparent glass surfaces “draws in” the surrounding public space and makes the ongoing activities ‘flow out’.
Architects: Studio Metar Location: Novi Sad, Serbia Design Team: Stevanovic Nikola, Radulovic Vladimir, Enbulajev Vanja, Djokovic Milica Year: 2011
