STUDIO

RETHINKING ROTTERDAM CENTRAL LIBRARY

  • Leads: Anastassia Smirnova, Alexander Sverdlov
  • Year: 2017
  • Location: Rotterdam NL
  • Field Trip: Paris libraries

What kind of services should libraries provide alongside the more traditional lending of books?

The studio ‘Towards the New Typology’ focused on the Rotterdam Central Library which was scheduled for a large-scale rethinking in the coming years. With many district satellite libraries being closed or restructured, the famous building by Jaap Bakema takes on more social and cultural significance and is in dire need of the new spatial organization.

The main challenge for it today is to formulate a strategy for innovative development and recreate itself as an effective public place for future Rotterdam without dramatic changes in its architectural envelope.

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