Design and research collaborative Kutonotuk is sharing with us its proposal "Helsinki Link" which was awarded one of the four Honorable Mentions in the recent competition for the design of the new Helsinki Central Library. — bustler.net

In the recent competition for the design of the new Helsinki Central Library, the jury had decided not to award a Second Prize but to give a shared Third Prize to the entries ”LIBLAB” and "Kasi” instead [...]. Helsinki-based Playa Architects are the designers behind LIBLAB and have sent us some more information about their design concept. — bustler.net

Libraries have long been the haven of readers, but now the Chicago Public Library is making their main branch a haven for makers.

As part of the CPL's innovation lab, the Harold Washington branch will open its free "maker space" July 8. Crain's Chicago Business describes it as a "pop-up fabrication lab will offer the public access to 3-D printers, laser cutters, a milling machine and a vinyl cutter as well as a variety of supporting design software." — huffingtonpost.com

Earlier this week, we published the winners of the highly popular Helsinki Central Library competition. One of the five entries recognized with an Honorable Mention is the proposal Through the Looking Glass which is conceptualized around the idea of a "building like a bookcase." The design was a collaboration between French architecture firms AAKAA and MARS Architectes. — bustler.net

Portuguese architecture firm AND-RÉ (previously on Bustler) has sent us its stunning entry to the architectural competition for the new public library building in the city of Setúbal, Portugal. — bustler.net

The international architectural competition for the design of the Helsinki Central Library [...] has announced the entry "Käännös" by Finnish firm ALA Architects as the winning proposal. The jury selected Käännös unanimously and described the entry as "impressive and casually generous."

A Second Prize was not awarded, and the entries ”Liblab” by Playa Architects and "Kasi” by Verstas Architects were awarded a shared Third Prize. Additionally, five Honorable Mentions were awarded. — bustler.net

The president still has three years in office, but eventually his thoughts will turn to what comes afterward. [...]

A presidential library has to be easily accessible to scholars and visitors, so Chicago has a clear advantage. That’s why Honolulu’s leaders named their public campaign carefully: The Hawaii Presidential Center Initiative, not a presidential library. — marketplace.org

Stern's architecture is always steeped in strategic references to past landmarks; there is no doubt he knows how to send, and shape, an architectural message. And the message the front entrance to the Bush Library delivers is clear: This is a building meant to honor a particularly blunt and plain-spoken kind of political power. — latimes.com

An intriguing design scheme by Berlin/Santiago de Chile/Los Angeles-based practice FAR frohn&rojas is one of the winners of the architectural competition for the new central library of the state of Berlin at the airfield of the former Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. — bustler.net

The City of Sydney has just announced the winning team in the international competition to design a new library and plaza for Green Square, one of the city's major new developments. The jury, including famed architects John Denton, George Hargreaves, and Pritzker Prize winner Glenn Murcutt, selected the entry by Stewart Hollenstein in association with Colin Stewart Architects from a field of 167 entrants from 29 countries. — bustler.net

The value of an institution isn’t measured in public square feet. But its value can be devalued by bad architecture...The designs have all the elegance and distinction of a suburban mall. I was reminded that Mr. Foster is also responsible for the canopied enclosure of the inner court at the British Museum, a pompous waste of public space that inserts a shopping gallery into the heart of a sublime cultural institution. — New York Times

schmidt hammer lassen architects has just won an international competition for the new Cultural Center and Library in the Swedish city of Karlshamn, designed to gather the city’s cultural functions under one roof. The 5,000 square meter (53,820 sq ft) facility aims to be the city’s new meeting place and will house a library, an exhibition area, a movie theater, a tourist office, and a café. — bustler.net

A $300 million renovation of the New York Public Library’s ornate marble palace in midtown Manhattan will start by evicting 1.2 million books.

The plan, unveiled today and overseen by the London firm of Foster & Partners, keeps more books onsite than had been suggested in earlier proposals. Books will be stored in space under Bryant Park and in a Princeton, New Jersey, facility. — bloomberg.com

As part of our mini series of Stage 1 proposals submitted to the Helsinki Central Library competition, here is the entry by Belgian collaboration OYO + office9 + Ingenium. — bustler.net