Libraries of the World

Hi guys!

While I was wandering in the web, a weird building caught my eye and then I read that it is a library. And I said to myself and now to you: Let’s talk about libraries! Would you like to read in a public place, such as a library or do you prefer the comfort of your home? Do you have a preference on location? I see people reading in subways or trains or busses and I’m like: HOW?

Personally, I can’t easily concetrate, my mind is constantly on the loose, and that is why sometimes it takes me so long to finish a book. Aside from that, I consider myself a fast reader and one that can devour a book in just a few hours, if only I can get my head to focus on the story and the story alone. If only…pfff!

So, me and the library wouldn’t work out but, I love the way a library makes me feel.  In a library, I get the feeling that I am not alone. The air wafting the whispers of the book characters in my ears, like trapped souls that are trying to be released. I love walking past the bookshelves that reach the ceiling, reading the titles of various books as I move through the hallways and sliding my fingers gently on the edge of the shelves… All the colors and the smell of old and new books… it’s a journey to tranquillity.

I believe libraries are the last magical places left on earth. That is where the man keeps all the magic protected and unseen from the non-believers. How can you not believe in magic when you have been in a library?

Without further ado, I would like to present you this week’s library that we can talk about. Ι have mixed feeling about this one. I love the peace and serenity that the sea view provides, but I am not a big fan of the concrete, especially in the interior. I love the idea of reading and when my eye leaves the page for a second’s rest to meet the waves of the ocean. I find it brilliant! But I think, it lacks in warmth and coziness. Let’s travel to Beijing and let me know your thoughts.

Alone on the beach: Library with a sea view by Vector Architects

The brutalist appearance of this sleek library on the eastern coast of China plays with the contrast between nature and culture. Beijing’s Vector Architects studio focuses on reduced materiality and expressive tectonics in order to give the free-standing building an expressive character. At the same time, its relationship with the water are a predominant theme of the interior space.

The library planned by Vector Architects stands self-absorbed on a stretch of beach in the city of Nandaihe, which lies on the Chinese coast east of Beijing. Architect Gong Dong, has used this renunciation of city and land to create an edifice that brings forth his desired qualities of light and view and results in an island of culture on the coast. Free of any built context, this library presents itself as a durable work of architecture whose sleekness makes a marked contrast to nature without risking any sense of harmony.

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Check out the slides for more pictures of the library.

Thanks for reading. I’d love to see your comments bellow.