Katowice Scientific Information Centre and Academic Library - Katowice, Poland
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puczmeloun
N 50° 15.638 E 019° 01.822
34U E 359611 N 5569465
Katowice Scientific Information Centre and Academic Library // Centrum Informacji Naukowej i Biblioteka Akademicka
Waymark Code: WMJNQD
Location: Śląskie, Poland
Date Posted: 12/10/2013
Views: 6
Katowice Scientific Information Centre and Academic Library // Centrum Informacji Naukowej i Biblioteka Akademicka
A grid of red sandstone panels dominates every side of this university library in Katowice, Poland, by architects HS99.
Architects Dariusz Herman, Piotr Smierzewski and Wojciech Subalski arranged the rectangular panels in a brickwork-style pattern to "relate to the raw clay bricks on the neighbouring buildings," but used a different scale.
Gaps between the panels create hundreds of narrow windows, which become slivers of light all over the facade after dark.
HS99 won a competition back in 2002 to design the library, which houses a series of scientific and economic collections for the University of Silesia and is the first stage in a campus-wide redevelopment.
Three large floors form the main volume of the library, matching the scale of the neighbouring university campus buildings, while three upper floors with a smaller footprint create a slab-like tower at the north-east corner.
The architects planned this taller block as a visual marker for students, directing them towards the public square that lines the edge of the building.
Students enter the library through a three-storey-high atrium, which leads to reading rooms, group study areas, conference rooms and individual workspaces amongst the bookshelves.
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