This proposal for the Daegu Gosan Public Library by Martin Fenlon Architecture aims to be an efficient, sustainable, yet bold response to the program which is articulated in a form that is shaped by the space it sits within. The designs focuses on being both a resource of accumulated information and a public space to be enjoyed by the local residents. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The lower level ‘body’ of the complex, which reaches out and opens up to the park in front, serves as a podium for the ‘head’ above, which is the main reading room and a public terrace. The space of the park, which runs along the street to the north of the library, dramatically wraps around the structure in the form of an exterior public promenade. The bottom cantilevers of this promenade continue the surface of the park space while the top ones serve as sun shades. There is a dramatic material contrast found in the two exterior skins which come together along the void of this promenade; the weathered steel of the solid enclosure would turn to a matte orange similar to that found in traditional Korean temples, whereas the metallic surfaces of the void within would reflect images of the city back to it.
Internally, the library is organized around a central atrium which connects the entry and park in front to the sky above through a spiraling ascent. This atrium also serves the important function of acting as a solar chimney, where excess hot air rises up and escapes out of the ventilated roof. Beginning at the main entry, a grand stair progresses upwards and eventually culminates in a double-height reading room that syncs up with the public terrace at the end of the exterior promenade. It is here where the quiet consumption of information inside and the spectacle of public space outside share the exceptional view of the city beyond.
