Description

The Bibliothèque Humaniste in Sélestat, Alsace, reopened in 2018. The town’s former grain exchange has been converted into an exhibition hall with a vault and extended to host a library of the works of humanists from the Renaissance. The historical old town of Sélestat has two churches, one Romanesque, the other Gothic, that stand very close together. Nearby is the former grain exchange from 1845, a surprisingly large three-aisled building with a trapezoidal floor plan, built by the Strasbourg architect Gustave Klotz (1810-1880) who was a pupil of Labrouste.

The library plays a significant role for European intellectual history and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. Its renovation aimed to fulfil three primary objectives: to provide a modern means of storing and presenting the treasures as part of the granary renovation, to open the library to visitors as a tourist destination, and the incorporation of a lecture hall, administration facilities and a restoration workshop. The architect Ricciotti elected to locate the administration wing in a separate building placed, rather jarringly, to the right of the main entrance. A further building was placed in front of a firewall opposite the new building to house the building services. This ensemble of new buildings defines a new forecourt that focuses attention on the library entrance. On entering, visitors find themselves in the gallery for temporary exhibitions that leads on to a low and otherwise unremarkable event hall. The actual museum begins on the upper floor behind a room-high glass wall which reveals a view of showcases with books and manuscripts. To each side, small thematic exhibitions detail specific topics such as the Reformation or the history of the town.

Ricciotti’s exuberant architectural style is also evident in the supporting structure beneath the roof which takes the form of a framework of slender steel tubes. The purpose of this criss-crossing arrangement is to provide additional earthquake bracing while lessening the voluminous character of the hall-like interior. It also doubles as a rack for mounting the light fittings. The interiors, and particularly the oak furniture and fittings designed by the young Paris-based Atelier àkiko, are very much in keeping with the task of a library: robust tables, some of which are reminiscent of monks’ desks, seating, showcases, wall designs and various digital and interactive terminals. At the back of the hall is the glass box of the “Trésor de la Renaissance” with bookshelves full of treasures accessible only to researchers, and behind it a separate reading room. The overall concept of the hall-like interior on the upper floor of the granary is convincing and coherent in its design, and especially in the new presentation of the exhibits.

Originally published in Bauwelt 20.2018, pp. 34-39, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

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