Description

Alvar Aalto designed the centre of the western Finnish town of Seinäjoki in the 1950s as a harmoniously designed “total work of art”. Over time, however, cities grow and change, as does how people live in them. In 1960, the city had around 15,000 inhabitants, a number that has swollen to more than 60,000 in the space of 50 years. It became clear that the existing library from 1960 – the size of a spacious residential building – needed a new extension. Likewise, the function of a library has changed over the past half-century in the wake of the digital revolution. The “quiet space” of former times must now accommodate a wide range of activities. The challenge was to design an extension that could fit into Aalto’s urban composition.
In 2008, the city organised an invited competition, which was won by JKMM from Helsinki, who had previously designed the library in Turku. The office derives its name from the initials of its four partners: Asmo Jaaksi, Teemu Kurkela, Juha Mäki-Jyllilä and Samuli Miettinen.

The new building is set apart from Aalto’s ensemble and stands in a small park on the edge of an open square. Access to the new building is via a path that branches off from the square like the side alley of a medieval market. For the façades, the architects took pointers from the surrounding architecture: the copper shingles, which are laid in a somewhat diagonal pattern, envelop the building like a skin of scales. The dark material contrasts both with the light-coloured Aalto buildings and the blue ceramic tiles of its town hall. Copper was also a favourite material of Aalto’s, which he liked to use for details and roofs. The large volume divides into three smaller sections at the top, which are connected on the lower floor. Overall, the dimensions and shape of the architecture correspond to the stage tower of Aalto’s municipal theatre and the raised meeting room of the town hall. Despite its size, the finished building blends harmoniously into the urban composition of the city centre.

The splayed funnel-like entrance façade to the foyer is the only external wall rendered in a light finish. When illuminated, it creates an inviting signal, further enlivened by the play of shadows and lights in the entrance area. Inside, the foyer is furnished with low furniture and the adjoining hall is set down one metre lower than the foyer so that one has an overview of the entire interior as soon as one enters. A slightly elevated lending and information area in the centre of the spaces recalls Aalto’s counter for the Wiborg library (1927-35). By contrast, the quiet reading corner, enclosed by high walls, recalls the almost sacred quality of Le Corbusier’s exposed concrete walls. The glass front of the hall offers an impressive view of the church and Aalto’s fan-shaped library. The path from the low foyer down into the hall leads directly towards this illuminated façade. The architects realised from the outset that an underground connection was the only way to link Aalto’s building with the much larger new building. Rather than this being an afterthought, however, their grand staircase becomes the centrepiece of the new library, dominating the interior. Spanning the entire width of the library, it invites one to sit and linger, while also leading down to the children’s and youth department and on to the corridor linking the two buildings. Aalto’s library is visible through a large window, making it easy to find one’s way around the lowest level of the new building.

The design of the hall means that it is free of supporting columns and connects a series of open, but distinct, adjoining rooms. The design of the folded ceiling made of rough-cast concrete has structural reasons: the folds allow the reinforced concrete slabs to be cast thinner and the beams to be more slender, causing the vaulting to appear visually lighter. The air-conditioning is largely concealed within the false floor. The artwork on the ceiling of the foyer area was designed by graphic artist Aimo Katajamäki, who is also responsible for the oversized lettering of the wayfinding system. The building presents itself an architectural sculpture inside and out. The copper cladding is unbroken, wrapping itself around the entire building, its shingles bending around the edges, heightening the building’s sculptural form and sense of enclosure. The only openings in this skin are ventilation slots integrated into the copper cladding. The 4,500 m² library building was completed with a budget of 10 million euros.

Originally published in Bauwelt 41–42.2013, pp. 36–41, abridged and edited for Building Types Online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

 

---