Kengo Kuma & Associates, in collaboration with Mad Arkitekter and Buro Happold Engineering, have been selected as the winning proposal for the new Ibsen Library in Skien, Norway. The project pays tribute to world-renowned playwright, Henrik Ibsen, by creating an open and engaging cultural hub in his Norwegian birthplace. Kengo Kuma‘s proposal intends to reflect…

This Student Union Building at the Florida Campus of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is inspired by the gracefulness of birds in flight. Designed by Ikon.5 architects, a firm based in New York, the ‘Mori Hosseini’ Student Union is an expression of the university’s mission to teach the science, practice, and business of aviation and aerospace.…

Henning Larsen has unveiled its design for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota, US. The proposal takes its cues from the rich landscapes of the north Dakotan badlands, comprising four volumes that peek up from the site’s butte. Complete with a landmark tower, the library becomes a hub for community and fluid threshold…

Photographer Vincent Hecht has documented a library in Tokyo designed by architect Kazuyo Sejima. The project was completed for Japan Women’s University, an institution that Sejima herself attended. The multi-storey building, which forms part of the school’s Mejirodai Campus in Bunkyō, contains a range of resources for students across its different floors. New trees have…

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has completed the new Billie Jean King Main Library situated at the heart of downtown Long Beach, in California. The state-of-the-art, structural timber building features distinct and identifiable interior spaces that maximize square footage and enhance user accessibility and staff efficiency. The design by SOM provides a welcoming and flexible…

Sited within Japan’s Nakanoshima Park in Osaka, a children’s book forest designed by Tadao Ando is expressively clad in colorful books. The renowned Japanese architect is widely known for his emphasis on both atmospheric simplicity and spatial complexity. With his latest children’s library, the designer manages to maintain an open and uncluttered interior by integrating…

A hill-like green roof with a skylight helps to blend this public library by Toronto architecture firm RDHA into its grassy surrounds. Springdale Public Library and the surrounding Komagata Maru Park are located in Brampton, Canada, a suburb outside of Toronto. The library comprises three volumes around a central patio, featuring aluminium and glazed walls…

Yusuhara is a small town in Kochi Prefecture with a population of a few thousand people. This in and of itself is not terribly noteworthy, as there are thousands of little towns around Japan that, on paper, seem very similar. What sets this charming mountain town apart is the presence of six dramatic buildings designed…

French architectural agency D’Houndt+Bajart unveils their latest work – the transformation of Dunkirk‘s former fine arts museum into a media library called ‘LA BIB’. Commissioned by the city, the ambitious project intends to create a cultural hub by providing a new program for the building, which includes a café, library, auditorium and an exhibition hall.…

Following an 18-month renovation of the historic Rand Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, the ‘Mui Ho Fine Arts Library’ opened in August 2019. The redesigned space was designed by architect Wolfgang Tschapeller, whose goal for the project was ‘a 21st-century interpretation of the grand reading rooms associated with great research collections’. The…