GORK JOURNAL

Typology of Architecture for Books

Project: NSAU Bookstore of Librairie Avant-Garde
Architecture: ZAO/standardarchitecture
Photo: Wang Ziling, Wu Qingshan
Geo: Mengzi, CH


Here are a few examples of libraries from the magazine:
Lello Library
Ibsen Library
Songdo Library
Forest of Knowledge Library

The projects can be styled in brutalism, emphasizing the fundamental nature of knowledge. Lenin Library can attest to this, as well as the National Library of Belarus in the shape of a#nbsp;rhombicuboctahedron diamond.

Most knowledge has been digitized, and for the average person, there is little need to visit a library for its original purpose. Therefore, modern reading rooms strive to become multifunctional spaces for work, resembling coworking spaces. By layering this with an interactive and airy design, we create a comfortable environment for focusing thoughts and working effectively. For example, visit the Dostoevsky Library.

Finally, there are old book depositories where the age of the architecture matches the tomes on the shelves. Frescoes, paintings, the smell of old wood and paper, antique columns, and Latin—when you enter such a space, you feel like you’re in the pages of an old novel. In Russia, to immerse yourself in such an atmosphere, I recommend visiting the Book Chapel in St. Petersburg, which is a stylization but incredibly convincing.

I found another interesting project—a bookstore in China. The name doesn’t quite fit, but it combines all the aforementioned formats under one "roof." Here you have a medieval stone setting surrounded by a park and lake, a fully glazed facade with pleasant warm lighting, and a recreation area styled like an infinite Penrose staircase (see drawings in the first comment).

If we are to popularize books, let it be done this way!

@gorkjournal
Architecture