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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. Elsa Morante Public Library in Varese, Italy by DAP studioMay 15th, 2013 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: DAP studio The pre-existing building for the new Lonate Ceppino Public Library already belonged to Lonate Ceppino’s historical heritage.On a rectangular plan, the two leveled buildings housed the Civic Library on the ground floor, while the first floor had been left unused. From the outside, the main entrance façade has a higher decorative part which is independent from the roof structure.  North view: Image Courtesy © luigifiletici
 The new volume: Image Courtesy © luigifiletici This façade stands out further on the building gutter line and laterally its design suggests the idea of an unfinished bell tower. In this case, neither the bi-dimensional outline has a counterpart in the interiors. A few ornamental elements mark the façade hierarchies.  North view by night: Image Courtesy © luigifiletici The design of the fronts is organized in horizontal bands at different heights while on the north, south and west fronts a system of vertical pilasters apportions the windows on both floors. The east front lacks any decoration and, before the intervention, it was badly compromised by a recently built volume for the service rooms.  East view by night: Image Courtesy © luigifiletici The intervention aimed to restore the historical pre-existing building and to adapt the new building to its re-gained functional use.Being inadequate, the previous service’s volume extension was removed together with the internal stairs, which were damaged and not according to laws. The project restored many areas injured by dampness, plasters, flooring’s and roofing.  Entrance on the east side: Image Courtesy © luigifiletici Besides the east front, a new well balanced volume covered with micro perforated white aluminum panels has been built, including bathrooms, archives and technical systems.This last choice allowed to clear the historical building out of the functional and potentially invading elements, minimizing any demolition and making the facility rooms easier to share.  Detail of the microfored aluminium panels: Image Courtesy © luigifiletici The new volume’s architecture is marked by a narrower profile on its top, with a sloping side that restrains to give more space to the historical building pitches. The dialogue between the volumes is the key and main theme leading the whole intervention. The relationship between the two is nourished by juxtaposition between matterness and lightness, solidity and instability, opaque and reflecting materials.  The room on the first floor: Image Courtesy © luigifiletici The highlighting of differences underlines the peculiarities of both volumes, in a mutual figure-background relationship. The two buildings are connected through a glazed roofed little volume. The entrance is on the left side and a further wooden connection goes to the first floor.The Library hall is divided into 4 specific areas: a conference area with a little newspaper library, the children’s area, the bookcases’ and the reading tables. On the first floor there’s a flexible room for exhibitions or conventions.  The study area: IImage Courtesy © luigifiletici Inside the new volume space reduces while climbing upstairs. After the first floor a platform drives you to a little space lit up by a window on a corner. This spot is the zenit of the specific spatial sequence developing inside the building.The interiors are monochrome, with a resin floor and enamel walls.  The kids area: Image Courtesy © luigifiletici The stairs and the white metal platform have durmast steps. Lighting is provided by a pattern of incandescent lamps.Inside the historical building the floor is in durmast too and the original roof has been restored. The wooden bookcases are designed as modular aggregations, able to be assembled at different heights and exhanged.  Stairway in the new volume: Image Courtesy © luigifiletici  Stairway in the new volume: Image Courtesy © luigifiletici  Bookcases abacus: Image Courtesy DAP studio  Bookcases: Image Courtesy DAP studio  Detail: Image Courtesy DAP studio  Elevation 1: Image Courtesy DAP studio  Elevation 2: Image Courtesy DAP studio  Elevation 3: Image Courtesy DAP studio  Section 2: Image Courtesy DAP studio  Section 3: Image Courtesy DAP studio
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Categories: Autocad, Illustrator, Library |
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