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Global architecture firm Snøhetta has completed a sculptural library complex for Temple University in Philadelphia. The Charles Library facility opened its doors for the Fall 2019 semester a few weeks ago and is designed as a collaborative social learning space that reinterprets the... View full entry
In 2011, the New York Public Library established an official unit for digital experimentation—NYPL Labs. Over the six years that followed, what began as a small research and development outfit for special digital projects grew into a visionary think-and-do tank for making the library’s two centuries of collections digital and usable for the years to come. A hybrid team of technologists, librarians, and designers would start to assemble the building blocks of an urban memory infrastructure. — Urban Omnibus
Shannon Mattern, associate professor of media studies at The New School, and Ben Vershbow, founder of NYPL Labs, discuss the recent digitalization efforts undertaken by the New York Public Library system as it works to turn the library's "vast collections into usable data, connecting maps... View full entry
Chicago's West Loop neighborhood celebrated the inauguration of its very first public library last Thursday. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the two-story library — which is the City of Chicago's 81st branch — was once part of the Harpo Studios campus and was donated to the city... View full entry
Many of us fondly look back on childhood memories of going to the local library. The new Children's Library at the Concourse House — a Bronx-based shelter that serves women with young children who are transitioning out of homelessness — was created to bring that meaningful, formative... View full entry
Today’s libraries have also evolved into complex institutions compressed into small spaces, making their design needs equally intricate. ... In the end, the problem of how to build good public architecture briskly and frugally has little to do with design and everything to do with bureaucracy. Virtually no one feels the urgency or has the clout to reform a sclerotic system. — New York Magazine
Most of Italy’s splendid old libraries got their starts as the private collections of a humanist noble or cardinal...Where the Angelica is small, plush and perfectly faceted, the Casanatense is spartan and muscular. The Angelica reflects the wealth of its Augustinian founders, whose church, the Basilica di Sant’Agostino, adjoins the library, while the Casanatense shows its Dominican roots in its deep collection of books and codices on Church doctrine and natural history. — NYT
David Laskin reflects on a trip he took, earlier his year, to Venice, Rome, Florence and Milan, where he visited a sampling of Italy's many historic libraries. View full entry
Built to serve Saint-Laurent's diverse community in Montreal, the Bibliothèque du Boisé has collected another honorable accolade. Today, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada awarded the public library with its 2017 Green Building Award. The award will be presented during the RAIC/OAA... View full entry
It's been almost a year since schmidt hammer lassen and Architectus' team won the competition to redevelop the State Library Victoria in Melbourne, Australia's oldest and busiest public institution...‘Our concept provides a strong 'design line' that will act as a framework to guide present and future works,’ Morgen Schmidt says. — Bustler
Courtesy of schmidt hammer lassen.Read more about the project on Bustler. View full entry
Studio Ma may be small, but their work is mighty, at least according to the Arizona chapter of the AIA. The woman-owned firm, which has completed projects for Princeton University as well as a series of museums, public libraries and mixed-use housing developments, won the AIA's "Firm of the Year"... View full entry
Describing her entry, Murdaugh writes, "The components flat pack easily, and the hinging construction of the frame streamlines assembly. Simply unfold the base frame, attach the flanges, and construct the cabinet and seat according to an instruction pamphlet using provided hardware. In effect, this design maximizes the functionality of the book kiosk as a means of emphasizing its role as an intersection of community and learning, while elegantly maintaining ease of assembly.” — Chronicle Books
Little Free Libraries can be found in front yards, community centers, and public spaces all over the world. They support literacy and provide access to books on the community level. The first Little Free Library was created in 2009; now there are over 40,000 Little Free Library sites stewarded in... View full entry
“Intermittently, over the past thirty years it’s been the internet is going to kill libraries, Google is going to kill the libraries, eBooks are going to kill the libraries, and it never has actually happened.” — Business Insider Australia
"The Edge, Queensland’s experimental library of the future, is tucked away next to the State Library of Queensland in a concrete bunker-like building that stretches along the Brisbane river.The building itself has had a varied history — six years ago it was the Gallery of Modern Art, before... View full entry
Construction of the forthcoming Queens Library has begun at Center Boulevard and 48th Avenue in Hunters Point of NYC's Long Island City. Steven Holl Architects won the commission back in 2010 to design the new $30.6 million public library. Surrounded by recently built skyscraper condominiums and... View full entry
The arched ceilings, stained glass windows, and other embellished details of some of the world's oldest university libraries or contemporary hotspots like, say, OMA's glass-clad Seattle Public Library get enough attention when it comes to the "best" library designs. While those libraries are... View full entry
Beginning as the New Bodleian Library, the Weston Library at Oxford University was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and constructed in the 1930s. Although construction finished in 1940, wartime purposes delayed the building's official opening in 1946. For the most part, the building remained... View full entry
Although an American president has the right to having a dedicated Presidential Library, it's no surprise that the museum-library-shrine typology can spark debate and criticism regarding its true civic purpose. As plans for the Barack Obama Presidential Library appear to slowly take shape, the... View full entry
