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Ghirardelli Architetti

Ghirardelli Architetti

Rimini, IT

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Daegu Gosan Central Library

The library hidden between the pages of a book.


A simple gesture like opening the pages of a book, we can interact with our intellectual
awareness, art, science and history, transporting us into a different state of being,
separated from what is happening around us in where we discover leisure, tranquility
and food for thought with infinite horizons to explore inside and outside ourselves.
The library contains this knowledge and makes it available through intriguing spaces
and activities, providing at the same time, individual detachment from the daily ritual.
Just like books do.
This is how we've imagined our library.
Spaces full of knowledge and tools as if we are opening up the pages of a great book.
An pop-up book from which arise extraordinay enrichments.
In a park.
In the park we find the long pathway that leads to the south, by following it, the trees
gradually give way to the big white pages resembling pages of a book which is the
architectural setting. One after the other these pages run along the path revealing the
high volume of the library suspended between them and filtering the atmospheric light,
just like the leaves of a tree.
Description of the project.
The park adjacent to Dalgubeol Main Road with its trees, plays a very important role in
the area of the library and with it's crossway we reach the main entrance.
Then imagine a reformation of the existing plants and the restructure of a new design
with pathways and lighting instrumentation enhancing the natural element.
A large wooden pathway from the edge of the Main Road slowly rises as an archway
suspended over the lower garden of the library extending through the whole area and
then slowly bends reaching the level of the southern border. Along the way, the trees
gradually give way to the white pages which are large plate walls of precast polished
concrete that also act as a carrier for the entire support of the building.
This idea of permeability is the second cornerstone upon which the entire project is
designed and imagined of the cultural center and of the whole area.
A very transparent window placed on the pathway defines the entrance to the library
allowing visualization of the entire pathway stretching throughout from north to south.
The pages mark the succession of crossings. In this long space, glass rises passing
above the basement, continually following one another set between the pages dividing
the functions within the common space. They are articulated by the views that open
from the side of the garden below where there is direct access from within the library
and some functions can also be accessed independently from the rest of the structure.
Along the pathways center, there is a large empty vertical space centrally visable that
connects all four levels of the building in which you can see the vertical connections
that are created by the divisions of the long pages.
In the basement there exists a direct relationship with the garden and there is also
independent access to allow proper functioning of the multi-purpose room or cultural
classroom with a small coffee area, along with other areas of facility management.
Climbing to the upper floors there we find the literary collections.
On the first floor, spaces are enclosed in large screen printed glass blurring the view of
the city as if from inside to the exterior it appears that the city is distanced between the
pages that are accompanying the view making it almost stationary, like a painting on
the wall, and further filtered through the trees that rise from the garden below. The
spaces defining the children's rooms, reading, newspapers and magazines and the
digital room all enjoy this atmosphere a bit allayed, easily accessible and well
connected with the rest of the cultural center.
The second floor gives attention to reading rooms and collective studies. Here the light
is seen overhead to imply the opening made possible by the infinite value of
knowledge. It is emphasized by the matt coated perimeter walls and from the mass
collection of books placed on large shelves. In the latter respect, sound gives way to
silence and tranquility, the central void that allows a visual connection with the rest of
the whole building emphasizes the idea of a space suspended between earth and the
infinity of the sky, held suspended from the pages of the books that nurture our souls.

 
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Status: Competition Entry
Location: Daegu, KR
Firm Role: Project leader
Additional Credits: Team: Delphine Chouaib (architect)

Collaborators: Laura Alesiani (engineer), Mario La Mattina (architect),
Ferdinando Savio Flores (architect), Valentina Bove (Render)

Website: www.ghirardelliarchitetti.it (our website)

www.dacb-competition.kr (website of the competition)

http://bove24.wix.com/daegu-gosanlibrary#!home/mainPage (our project website)