This competition entry for France’s national library proposed a new type of library, one that combined the pursuit of modernity with the pursuit of knowledge and the athlete with the scholar. The program was about circuits and movement—movement for scholars, books, and visitors—and so the entire architectural scheme was developed around a constant dynamic. Opening simultaneously onto the Seine River and onto the rest of the world through the internal circuits of library culture, the building was intended to act as an urban generator for a new part of the city. Inside, there were multi-media circuits for the public and circuits for the storage and retrieval of books. On the upper level was an exhibition circuit and, outside, a running track, designed with the assumption that the athlete of the 21st century would be an intellectual and that the intellectual of the 21st century would be an athlete. Needless to say, the project lost the competition. more

The fact that the library was not to be located in the historical center of Paris was considered a positive factor, since it encouraged a breakaway from earlier static concepts of libraries. Within the new library, five interrelated sets of circuits can be identified: visitors' and administrators' circuits, book circuits, electronic circuits, and mechanical circuits. While each has its own logic and set of rules, the circuits constantly interact at strategic locations. Locating a running track over the library embodied the building’s complex role in developing an urban strategy that was expressed in the open circuit. The library was seen as an “event” rather than as a frozen monument. back

Credits

SCHEDULE
Invitational Competition, 1989
CLIENT
French Ministry of Culture
TEAM
Lead Designer: Bernard Tschumi. Key Personnel: Luca Merlini, Robert Young, Koichi Yasuda, Mark Haukos, Frazer Gardiner, Jean-Pierrre de l’Or, Ann Krsul, Philippe Gavin, Jean-Francois Erhel. Consultants: Peter Rice, Hugh Dutton (RFR)
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Program: Cultural, Educational, Public Buildings