Library

The vision of responsible architecture that distinguishes RootStudio’s projects comes to the fore in the reconstruction of the Gabriel López Chiñas library, with sustainable building methods, meticulous restoration, and the recovery of traditional construction techniques all in evidence.                                                                            

It’s a single-story building renovation project that located in the city park, surrounded by a large lawn, with excellent sight and a prominent position that can be easily detected. The idea of design hopes to create an open and modern reading public space, it also offers commercial services such as coffee and beverage retail, and aims to build up an attractive and multifunctional small public building. As a vibrant part of the city is created for people to relax, it makes up for the shortage of high-quality indoor space for people using the park.

London-based architecture practice Studio Weave has extended the Grade-II listed Lea Bridge Library in East London, adding a cafe and adaptable community space with an improved connection to the library’s gardens, resulting in a revived civic heart for the Borough of Waltham Forest.

The new library is built on the same site where a terrorist attack took place 30 years earlier in which 10 people died. This fact, traumatic for the city of Vic, is also the origin of the initiative since the city wanted to dedicate this site to the construction of a new library as a facility that represents the values ​​of culture, social integration, and tolerance.

Located in a narrow street in central Bangkok, the site for the Jim Thompson Art Center was originally an outdoor car park that served the Jim Thomson House Museum. In addition to creating a new art center, design qua was tasked with incorporating an existing building into the new complex. The new L-shaped structure and the existing building together form an outdoor courtyard space that overlooks the Thai terracotta roofs of the nearby historic Jim Thompson House. The 3,800 square-meter building is designed with the vision of creating an art and culture center in central Bangkok that is open and inclusive. A place where Bangkok residents, students, and tourists can come together through architecture, contemporary art, learning, cultural events, and nature. Design qua set out to create a new kind of art and culture destination that functions like a community center.

The new Adams Street Library is Brooklyn Public Library’s first new branch to open in more than 20 years. Extensive, architect-led community outreach within Dumbo, Vinegar Hill and the Farragut Houses indicated that children’s spaces and programming was lacking – and important to residents across the diverse neighborhoods. The design, therefore, puts children at its center, containing spaces for learning activities, story time, books, reading and views out to Brooklyn Bridge Park. The library also has new collections, technology and extensive programming for teens and young adults in a dedicated teens area.

Shanghai Library East, a new civic landmark and cultural destination in the world’s third most populous city, has opened. Designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects (SHL), Shanghai Library East is one of the largest new libraries in the world. Its primary function as a center of art, culture, and technology-driven learning reflects the modern library’s rapidly changing raison d’être. At the same time, its allusion to classical Chinese scholarship—the building’s form conjures the scholar’s rock of the ancient literati—anchors it in tradition. “This important cultural center for the citizens of Shanghai embraces the idea of ‘collection to connection’—a space to bring people together. It’s the city’s gift to them,” says Chris Hardie, design director and chief architect for SHL.