Varna Regional Library is a winning proposal by Architects for Urbanity for Varna Municipality designed in 2015. It is located in Varna Bulgaria in an urban setting. Its scale is large with a surface of 17.500 sqm. Key materials are concrete and glass. Concepts such as ramp transparency and stair are explored. Review the 2 proposals for the same competition.

Subtracting a large longitudinal void across a compact orthogonal volume, we propose a symbolic gesture that creates ‘air’, space for the etheric body – the knowledge – to be developed. The open space of knowledge divides therefore the mass of the building into two solid volumes. The backside volume is fragmented in three large zones, so that on the back of the building a ‘spine’ is created, a well-structured verticality that accommodates the archive and the administration. The slabs of the two remaining volumes are shifted; the void is distorted. The ground-based volume is shifted towards the city, opening up knowledge to the public. Geometric contour lines form a climax, bare the library’s fetish, the books and the book stacks. The climax unfolds till the ground floor and expands outside the building. The ’library’ is given back to the city. The floating volume performs as a condensed act of knowledge; an Act On the book; ‘devouring’ the books; absorbing knowledge; learning.

1379-AFU-VAR.BG-2015 — Posted in 2016 — Explore more projects on education and library — Climate: humid subtropical and temperate — Coordinates: 43.208603, 27.917953 — Team: Irgen Salianji, Marina Kounavi, Katerina Petrocheilou, Liana Sofiadi, Karolina Szóstkiewicz — Views: 15.072