READ OUT OF THE BOX  – city mediathek

LIBERATION OF STORAGE ANTIQUITY

The city of Varna embraces her antiquity through preservation and celebration of architecture and traditions. Through time it has become an attractive display of old and new moments that blend seamlessly in the contemporary urban context. If to define a library, more than a quarter of functional space is utilized as the storage of materials. Yet the repository is often an undesired back space, unseen and kept away from public attention. As the new library seeks for a refreshed identity, we are stimulated to find opportunities in reconditioning and redefining what is given by the present past.

Can the library repository be portrayed as treasure uplifting urban condition and cultivating local public life qualities?

NO BOUNDARIES

We propose a design that becomes a hymn to the precious repository – the storage of books as a primary organ which supplements and defines the space it accommodates to. It encourages learning by showcasing knowledge as a foundation of growth and prosperity. For the city of Varna, the new library manifests a place of sharing and it empowers urban life qualities in a synergetic way by dissolving boundaries.

Flowing from the sea gardens throughout the boulevards into the streets. Its embedment is to devote. This is realized through a projected extension of building footprint, converging the urban fabric into a sunken square where it embodies a wide flexible space for the locals. Through this intervention the overruling iconicity of the municipality building is counteracted, and a new exciting public space is released. It provides a brand new meeting point that directly caters to the boulevard, municipality and the library. By giving vacant space, the public are intrigued for own interpretation and creativity on the affiliated functionality.  We are expecting a trendy yet down-to-earth cultural venue and also possibly a sport location like an ice rink for figure skating. The abstract building volume is shaped to acclimatize to the local conditions and moreover the preservation of present green structure.

 REPOSITORY as TREASURE

The treasury repository resembles a core, depicted as golden storage boxes glancing at the gold antiquity of Varna. Surrounding the core it develops a free floor plan. We are inclined to provide a broad range of library spaces just like a small pluralistic city, as we feel that interaction is the key in learning and experiencing. Through acrobatic composition, the functionality of storage boxes is even enriched with newly born podiums and sunken rooms, which also contributes to the zoning of private and public library spaces. By commingling the floor heights, voids and split levels together with the positioning of storage, there creates a space orchestra. The placement of storage boxes evolves with every level, resulting in unique floor plans of each story, inviting visitors for exploration.

We tend to organize the functions in a vertical-linear format, with the street levels housed in with public services that free to access. On the toppest levels, functions require strict access like the storage facility and partial administration department are placed so that it operates efficiently between repository and the library reading levels which occupies the middle body of the building. The organization is also made legible through exterior languages

Since Varna is the Sea Capital of Bulgaria and tops the Black Sea holiday town list, we are also thinking about a resort-like materialization to feature with the city concept. Especially the application of climatized wooden flooring for outdoor terraces, we imagine it to be a boat deck where the folks can leisurely take a sunbath. This is something we want to dedicate to Varna.