Tag Archives: library

The iconic National Library of France is finally open to book lovers after 15 years of renovation

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The Bibliothèque Nationale de France proudly holds the title of one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. Built in the 19th century by architect Henri Labrouste, the library boasts a Beaux-Arts style. However, for the past 15 years, the library has been under renovation, conducted by the French studio Bruno Gaudin Architectes. After an incredible 15 years of renovation, the library has been unveiled, featuring fresh spaces, and new public routes.

Designer: Bruno Gaudin Architectes

“After 15 years of work, we have returned a building that has been profoundly transformed to meet the contemporary challenges of welcoming the public, opening it up to the city, and sharing and exchanging with the younger generations,” said Bruno Gaudin Architectes .”Yesterday, closed in on itself, the large, magnificent, worn, fragmented, dark, and dilapidated treasure chest has now been given a new identity, full of light,” the practice continued.

The entire library, including its majestic and popular reading room called the Oval Paradise, was modernized, and transformed into a more contemporary version of the Beaux-Arts style. A new entrance was introduced to the space, which aims to open up the library to the public. A magnificent spiraling staircase built from aluminum was added as well, as a part of a new and improved visitor trail. Earlier, this section was the rear facade of the building, and now it functions as the new front facade. Shelvings and mirrored light fittings have been integrated into the Oval Room which holds over 200,000 books for the public to read.

Certain parts of the reading room were previously concealed from the public, but they’ve now been opened up, allowing people to catch a couple of glimpses of them. The views beautifully showcase the myriad mix of architectural styles that the library bears – from the 17th to the 21st centuries. The east and west wing of the library have been adjoined via a large glass walkway which also provides views of the library, that were unseen before. “The glass gallery offers a view to the roof and the sky, with a surprising view of the domes of the Labrouste hall. The translucent glass floors allow light to penetrate downward, accentuating the beautiful verticality of the staircase’s rotunda,” said the practice.

Another addition to the library which is really quite an exciting one is a 1,200-sq-m museum, which will include many of the important rooms of the library, not excluding the Mazarin Gallery – which stores newly restored Baroque frescoes. The museum will display many interesting and major artifacts, such as books, prints, photographs, costumes, a Charlemagne chess set, and the bronze Throne of Dagobert.

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BOOF! Reading lamp lights up to embody the appearance of a house lit during the night

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I have never fallen asleep reading with my face buried under the book, but I wouldn’t be lying when I say my chest has borne the weight.

Bookworms, graying their hair submerged in black on white would relate to what I’m saying, but for the Kindle age, the hardcover book may feel pre-historic. However, for the love of those who still ruffle through the pages for their smell and feel; we know reading is not a daily activity all the time. You can’t always sit with your favorite book during the day; sometimes, it’s beside the book lamp that we find refuge.

Designer: Eunae Ko and Janchi

Reading lamps are reckoned for the soft shades they shed on the pages, when the surrounding is dark. To elevate the pleasure of reading to a state when a book itself is the source of light, BOOF deserves a mention! Shaped like a house, the reading lamp basically comes on a metallic disk, but the fun is added when you put a book on top of its roof. BOOF, the lamp lights up, embodying the appearance of a house lit during the night.

The subtle light on the window and the ground floor of the house light up when the book is placed on top. Here, the triangular roof serves as a natural bookmark for the book you place on it. The light is soft and inspiring which will allow you to focus on the handwriting you’re flipping through in the pitch-dark ambiance of your room.

If you like to read in bed and your partner complains that your reading lamp disintegrates the bedroom décor, BOOF has the charisma to not look dubious to an eye for aesthetics. All the while being an enticing light for your bedtime reading sessions as you turn pages and toggle between books.

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This concentric school library in Thailand was constructed using bamboo and adobe bricks

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The Panyaden International School in Chiang Mai, Thailand had a beautiful bamboo sports hall added to its structure back in 2017. The Chiangmai Life Architects were responsible for this sustainable and thoughtful addition, and they’re back at it again! This time, they’ve designed an impressive new library for the school. The Panyaden Secondary School Library features a low-lying and organic design that is marked by concentric circles.

Designer: Chiangmai Life Architects

The complex and intriguing concentric design of the library is further accentuated by the fact that it is constructed from bamboo. Although, unlike the sports hall, bamboo isn’t the primary material used for construction – the walls are built from adobe bricks (made from sand and clay). The bamboo, on the other hand, was used to construct the two-tiered roof. The roof has been topped with thatching and features an oculus skylight. Beautiful bamboo archways provide support to the impressive roof.

“The Secondary School Library at Panyaden International School was designed to create an inspiring, peaceful and comfortable atmosphere for teenage students to read and study,” said Chiangmai Life Architects.

The place is marked by an interesting combination of traditional study spaces with desks and chairs, as well as more relaxed spaces that can be used as lounges and are scattered with bean bags and pillows. The combination of both kinds of spaces creates an atmosphere that is warm, welcoming, and comforting to the students. They can easily take a short break from their studies, as and when required, without actually having to leave the library for some reprieve. The sunken pod in the center of the library has been equipped with raised amphitheater seating, as well as a view of the skylight. The pod can be utilized for group discussions and readings. The pod is surrounded by built-in working tables, and then a bamboo archway that holds the main bookshelf section.

Besides the sunken pod and the study area, the library also houses a pair of noise-insulated study rooms that are perfect for group sessions, as well as a small office for the librarian. The library has also been equipped with a state-of-the-art central cooling system and a filtered air mechanism, which ensures the space always maintains a comfortable temperature and is well-ventilated.

The post This concentric school library in Thailand was constructed using bamboo and adobe bricks first appeared on Yanko Design.

This movable seater can also be your small library on wheels

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You probably won’t be taking this small mobile bookshelf outdoors, but you’ll at least be able to enjoy your favorite novel anywhere indoors.

Most of us have our favorite corners at home, our small areas of solitude and calm where we can curl up with a book and maybe even a hot mug of cocoa for comfort. It can be the couch, or it can even be your bed, any place that offers a smidgen of isolation that you could let you enjoy reading or thinking in peace. Not all places have such a nook or cranny, though, especially in more public indoor places like libraries. In those spaces, you might want to escape to a far-off corner of the room with your selected books to read, and this rolling cart for books lets you do exactly that and even offers something to sit on while you get engrossed in that new favorite book of yours.

Designer: Farhan Syahmi

Libraries are designed for reading books, of course, but most of them seem to make that a cold and alien experience that often scares off even bookworms. Long tables force many to uncomfortably share spaces with strangers, while chairs provide little comfort even to your back, let alone your posterior. There are exceptions to these, of course, with reading spaces designed to make reading feel enjoyable and comfortable, but most public spaces, including company libraries, turn the activity into something clinical and mechanical, more for dry studying than getting lost in the pages of a book.

Imagine, then, a library floor plan with more open spaces than unwelcoming rows of long tables, areas where you can pull up your own seat and read in isolation and privacy. You’d have to provide many personal desks and chairs, of course, which will inevitably lead to a lot of distracting pulling and pushing of furniture across the floor. That’s where Gambus comes in, presenting a sort of makeshift movable library within a library, one that you can silently roll around to your chosen spot and let you immediately sit down and read without missing a beat.

The movable library seater takes inspiration from a real gambus or qanbus, a wooden lute-like musical instrument with a large pear-shaped body and a narrow neck. The body of this Gambus seater is likewise made of wood, with a large cavern inside to fit a good number of books. The top surface serves as your seat so that you can sit down and read right where your books are. Alternatively, it can also function as a stepping stool to reach books on high shelves, though the wheels probably make that a bit risky.

The thin neck of the seater curves upward and ends with a tabletop where you can put the book you’re reading or even some of your stuff. You pull or push the Gambus using the tray, and the stem can actually function as a makeshift backrest as well if you’re so inclined. The Gambus is primarily designed so that you can pick a few books from library shelves and the plop down and read where you are (presuming you’re not blocking anyone’s path), but it’s not hard to imagine how the concept could be extended to create more personal reading experiences anywhere that has plenty of books and space to set up your own tiny fortress of solitude, even for just a few hours.

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This multifunctional WFH unit combines a library with integrated desks to feed our curiosity while we work

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Curiosity-Go-Round is a cylindrical, miniature library that also functions as a workspace with integrated desks and tables.

As we adjust our routines to fit our work-from-home lifestyles, the furniture that gets us through the workday adjusts alongside us. Since WFH orders were first put in place, designers have found versatility in making integrative and modular home furniture.

Designer: Creative Project Base x Keigo Kobayashi

Taking the multifunctional and immersive spirit of WFH furniture to its maximalist end, architect Keigo Kobayashi was called on by the Creative Project Base team to create a bookcase that combines elements of a traditional workspace with integrated storage units to form a bookworm’s private working oasis called Curiosity-Go-Round. Before Curiosity-Go-Round reached completion, Japan-based company Creative Project Base told Kobayashi, “I want you to make a bookshelf that can hold all the books you have now…I want to make it a place where you can come up with ideas by yourself.”

The unconventional, miniature library stands alone as its own unit with embedded desks that engross workers in the shelves of books, as well as a central cavity that functions as a private retreat from the demands of the workday. Working amidst shelves of books can bring some calm so workers can focus and lose track of time for a moment. On different ends of Curiosity-Go-Round, the convex shelves curve to provide spacious tables for collaborative or solo work. The overall unit rises like a wonky cylinder with an open internal center that leaves room to explore the unit’s bookshelves.

By transforming the traditional office space into a zany bookworm’s retreat, work begins to feel more creative, collaborative, and manageable. Once Curiosity-Go-Round was completed, Creative Project Base describes, “After completion, many people visited, picked up books, read, talked, came up with ideas, and many creative [undertakings] became more [dynamic]. Everyone goes around, goes inside, [and] tickles their curiosity to the fullest…”

Primarily functioning as a standalone library, the internal volume is left open for people to enter and explore the bookshelves. 

Curiosity-Go-Round is designed to flow freely between the floor and ceiling. 

Integrated desks jut from the central volume to provide table space for working. 

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Book publishers sue Internet Archive for allegedly enabling piracy

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When libraries around the US began closing their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Internet Archive (IA) responded by creating a “National Emergency Library,” a collection of 1.4 million books from its free e-book repository Open Library. Pu...

YouTube Music explains how its long-overdue cloud locker will work

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Earlier this month it came to light that YouTube was finally working on a way to let you upload your own music to its library. Now, that feature is almost good to go. Google has published a support document explaining how users will be able to add th...