Prague

Location:
The building sits on the topographical limits of the site plan.
It is integrated within its context by becoming an extension of the urban threshold.
Although the buildings programme is extensive, this building does not exceed the height of its neighbours, respecting the urban unit.
It consists of two urban faces towards the city and two towards the park.

Concept:
The building consists of 4 distinct parts:
The canyon
The interval
Boxes
The peel

The canyon
This is the architectural translation of a depression within the ground. Space created, a kind of artificial valley, make it possible to place a large part of the programme within this space while maximizing light through a large external opening. The canyon contains the essence of the treasure of this library and thus its activity within. The floor surface being adapted and used like many public spaces. The canyon contains the mysterious activity specific to the library yet is also the support of the public functions.

The interval
This corresponds to the delimited space between the canyon and the suspended boxes. This is the heart of the library. It is the vacuum of space ranging between the two structural masses of the project. It is also the continuity of the park within the building, without a visual interruption. It is a space largely open to the outside, a place for meetings, a space to discover the library. It is an oversized amphitheatre, which can accommodate all kinds of events. It is the place of all vertical connections and vistas.

Boxes
A double tablecloth of boxes floats above this vacuum containing primarily the reading rooms and the parliamentary library. Their juxtaposition allows a board diffusion of light into the central atrium. They enjoy a dominant placing within the buildings environment and create a sensation of being isolated from it.

The peel
The entire building is sheathed in an external skin whose variation in porosity and opacity generates a mysterious and progressive discovery of the new library.

Programmatic functions and relationships:

The canyon
Sheltering the majority of the storage and functional spaces. Offices are placed along the floor levels all lit by a central core as these require vertical circulation which all connect into the central public space and thus the boxes above.

The interval
This is the space, which makes all the connections possible. It is a multifunctional space intended for a large number of users. It exposes the activity of the library yet preserving it at the same time.

Boxes
The reading rooms are protected from the activity within the library by their vertical location, removed from the rest of the building. They allow flexible and free flowing spaces.

The peel
The building is discovered by passing through its changing texture, its skin.
It dilates in the direction of the park and opacifies itself towards the city.

Technical description:

The canyon
This is the extension of the grounds of the park, a mineral and massed element on which the pedestrian can walk. It is considered as the base, the protective layer and a place of meanders.

The interval
This is a completely glazed space, delimited by its surrounding solid elements.

Boxes
The reading rooms are interdependent of the tablecloth supported by thin columns rising from the circulation space. The framework imagined in metal. The boxes are regarded as the metal containers with flexible openings adapted to the rooms use.

The peel
The skin is a metal framework supporting glass panels of varying opacity.