Library For rest
The site is located in a large residential district of Suseong-gu, Daegu. It is adjacent to a 170m-long green belt, which acts as a buffer zone between a 45m-wide road on one side and single-family residences on the other. The areas surrounding the site contain both hardscape and landscape—trees twelve to sixteen meters in height, small pergolas, benches, playgrounds, and other such amenities which local residents use daily. Together, these represent some of the few precious green spaces available to the local community. While the green area ratio of the entire Suseong district may be at a healthy level overall, it is barely sufficient in this particular neighborhood at less than six percent. Given the importance of these public green spaces, we chose to approach the design of the library as an addition to the current conditions, instead of replacing them. By creating an opportunity to revitalize the existing green space, our proposal would generate a dialogue between the old and the new, whose synergy effect would form an intimate relationship that goes beyond the scope of a typical library and raise issues of urban design and community-building.
Concept Sketch
Site Plan
Ground Floor Plan
2nd & 3rd Floor Plan
The first floor is organized by a 4.8 x 4.8 meter grid, at 1.5 meter below ground level. Programs such as classrooms, seminar rooms, and language labs are located here, each with various relationships to the outside. The ceiling of the first floor follows the organic form of the second floor, forming rooms of various ceiling heights while creating a cohesive, organized whole rather than a simple array of modular spaces.
As a way of preserving the existing public green space, the second floor is a synthetic hill that can be approached from the ground floor by several gentle slopes. Transparent glass boxes form the interior space, maximizing their visual openness. Green space accounts for 60 percent of its floor area, and tree-like pilotis from the ground level feel like an extension of the neighboring park. The children’s library is the main program of the second floor, in the same location as where the previous playground had been. The soft, undulating floor creates a landscape for the children to read and play as they will.
East Elevation
Longitudinal Section
The third floor houses the General Collection, whose primary function is to store and circulate the library’s large collection of books. To meet this requirement, bookshelves (0.9m wide and 0.4m high) are arranged along the perimeter, sometimes functioning as other furniture (such as desks, louvers) when necessary, and allowing the library’s books to form its facade.
Partial Elevation & Section Detail
Project Information
Title: Library For-rest
Location: Daegu, South Korea
Type: Library - International Competition by UIA
Year: 2012