Varna Public Library
Program: Library
Size: 20000 m²
Client: The Municipality of Varna
Collaborators: Chen3d
Location: Varna, Bulgaria
Status: Competition
Year: December 2015
A humble addition to the urban fabric, a new landmark for the city of Varna “Thousandfold” is the ultimate universal medium adapting, accommodating, attracting, innovating, performing,orchestrating…. The new Varna library contributes to students and researchers, services public and it is a depository for Bulgarian national literature. It promotes the idea of cultivating connections physically as well as in its performance as a research center, public realm and tourist destination.
THE SITE
The site surrounded on 3 sides with streets, residential blocks beyond that and city hall of Varna.
EXTRUDE
The footprint extruded to achieve the required GFA.
URBAN APPROACH
City Hall and other Varna landmarks have the minimum interaction and least to offer to the public. The new library proposal creates a covered plaza with ultimate interaction. It serves as an urban extension therefore enhances the quality of public realm.
CARVE
A box carved out of the mass to create a plaza.
THE ANTI-ICON
Plaza is based on the absent of the form, creating a void of potentials to be manipulated. A vibrant, covered plaza dedicated to public, for people to interact and engage, to perform cultural and social events; and eventually become an integral part of urban fabric. This plaza will form along the primary street(osmi primorski polk blvd) to imitate the similar environment of the city, to absorb energy, to attract visitors. The ceiling is high enough to accommodate any civic and educational event. Ceiling also cladded in mirror to exaggerate, to multiply and to diversify the street effect.
The”L” acts as a backdrop for the plaza, protects residential blocks from the chaos and noise, and harmonizes the existing residential context by its linear façade. It accommodates the reading rooms since it is facing the quiet zone. It completes the idea of an urban block.
THE RIBBON
The box splits in two clusters of book depository and book collection.
both based on limitation and efficiency of the space, one iconic and rigid in contrast to the fluid one.
Book collection (spiral) is organized on a spectrum of noise level. It starts with noisy, open to public amenities at ground floor spiraling up to more quiet and technical zones. Book spiral formed on the idea of compressed data in computer technology, consists of 3 dedicated compressed boxes, to achieve high efficiency of energy consumption and circulation. Its encounter with the “L” creates unexpected moments of generous expansion signifying creativity and freedom. It becomes a never-ending journey of expansion-contraction through books (knowledge), begins and ends to the city.
THE ICON
The main storage facility is an independent, self –contained and efficient structure fully dedicated to storage of books, newspapers…. It becomes Varna’s new landmark, new symbol of knowledge and culture. A new global tourist destination contains the biggest infinity effect space inspired by fictional library of Babel.
REPROGRAM
The library program reorganized and consolidated into 6 distinct clusters. It is categorized on a spectrum starting from noisy, social and public amenities, spiraling up to quieter, restricted and more technical zones.
THE "L"
Corner volume completes the edge of urban block with a similar height to adjacent residential buildings. This creates a barrier between the more private streets and the public plaza. Reading zones form along this corner to take advantage of this desirable quality.
COVER
Administration and offices elevated to achieve maximum security and control over the complex, as well as creating a cover over the plaza.
BOOK COLLECTION(SPIRAL)
Book spiral oriented toward 3 main axes of the city, is a compact , dedicated and highly efficient structure for book collections.
BOOK COLLECTION(SPIRAL)
Book spiral oriented toward 3 main axes of the city, is a compact , dedicated and highly efficient structure for book collections.
STREET EXTENSION
The roof of book spiral connects public and social facilities of the library to the plaza and city.
THE ICON
The main storage facility is an independent, self –contained and efficient structure fully dedicated to storage of books, newspapers…. It becomes Varna’s new landmark, new symbol of knowledge and culture. A new global tourist destination contains the biggest infinity effect space inspired by fictional library of Babel.
HUB
The new library is a social, information and a physical hub. It promotes the idea of cultivating connections physically as well as in its performance as a center for research. Two elevators provide shortcuts to the library from the neighboring schools and institutions. Building tour elevator provides tourists direct access to the state of the art book silo and work rooms for a 15 minute tour.
