Anzin media library

Sited in a dip at a distance from the surrounding town, Anzin’s media library is an architectural object with what appears at first sight to be a relatively simple general shape – a large rectangular volume resting on a base with a smaller footprint. 

On approaching the building, however, a geometric complexity that is hard to take in at first sight becomes apparent: the outer shell is made up of folded planes, fine curtains of concrete pinched together slightly out of line. This play of articulation and interlocking creates an almost two-dimensional composition, like an intriguing origami model.

Immediately on entering the building, the visitor finds himself directly at the foot of a monumental staircase that occupies almost the entire hall and directs the eye upwards, towards the underneath of the roof, where a set of suspended volumes – enormous “inverted patios” – bring light into the heart of the building: the spatial dimension comes from the ceiling. This is where the change takes place, as it becomes clear that we are no longer inside a set of folded sheets of paper. The idea of an origami model was wrong, as this is truly a volume that has been half hollowed out to create a very rich geometry in opposition to the great simplicity of the ground plan. It is this contrast that creates the defined places with their different dimensions and quality of light and their separate ambiences.

The inverted patios are also arrangements for retaining rainwater. The light reflected of them lends an iridescence to the underside of the ceilings and offers multiple reflections in constant motion. This arrangement also provides natural cooling for the building during periods of hot weather. Openings placed in the upper sections allow the creation of currents of air. In contact with the water on the roof, the air is cooled and absorbs humidity, and the difference in temperature accelerates the movement of air, producing a high level of comfort in terms of temperature whatever the season.

The structure of the building is complex: the space on level 1 (reading rooms) is free of any intermediate load-bearing structure. The floors of the upper sections are suspended from the two main cross-beams (in reinforced concrete, with a large 30-metre span) with variable inertia using the curtains and beams incorporated in the façades of the upper sections.

Apart from the small auditorium, the entire media library is located on a single upper level. Thus from the head of the staircase it is possible to survey the entire space, bathed in light. The reverse of the folds of the outer shell frames views over portions of the area of workers’ housing and makes it possible to discover the surrounding town otherwise obscured by the dip in the land.

Everything here is white, but much more than just white. Whiteness is present in all its material manifestations: matte, glossy, perforated, smooth, dynamic, patterned, varnished, soft. The delicate material manifestations intersect, as in a kaleidoscope, breaking up the volumes of the building. Thus matte encounters glossy against a background of micro-perforations, producing new immaterial lines and above all an illusion of faceting that disappears in the light.