Description

The new district library is a solid sculptural volume bordering the Alter Markt in the peaceful heart of the district of Köpenick in Berlin. The deep reveals of its windows – apparently punched at random into the façade – already hint at its physical mass, and one has little idea of the spaces within except that the building unmistakably serves a public function. Only at the rear does a more regular window arrangement suggest that the building has three storeys.

Köpenick has a population of just under 60,000 and lies in the south-east of Berlin at the confluence of the Spree and Dahme rivers. The network of streets in the old town developed in the Middle Ages and was flanked mostly by single or two-storey houses, with a degree of densification following in the 19th century in the Wilhelminian style. Some of the buildings around the Alter Markt were destroyed in the Second World War and more were demolished in the 1980s due to dilapidation, so that by the time Germany was reunified, only a few low buildings remained in the wider neighbourhood. In 2005, a competition was held for a “Central Library” to replace three branch libraries. A former girls’ school from 1877 and the caretaker’s house from 1925 were part of the competition brief but could only serve administrative purposes due to the low load-bearing capacity of their ceilings.

The Berlin architecture office Bruno Fioretti Marquez has created a compact three-storey building. Visitors enter through a deep-set, step-free entrance into a long foyer, which opens to one side onto the south-facing terrace via completely openable French windows. The reading areas are in the rear third of the building and surround a large, central space from which one has a view of the inside of the external wall extending the height of the building, its openings revealing views of the Spindlergasse and River Spree beyond. Within the building, the upper levels rise upwards in a terraced arrangement. At the top, the sheltering roof, with its rhythmic, ribbed pattern of ceiling beams, contains the space. This “single unified space” creates a sense of openness and transparency – an informative, communicative multimedia space for all users. A single-flight stair parallel to the north façade leads to the upper floors, and it is here that the workstations are placed, with the sanitary facilities below them on the ground floor. The lending library and audio-visual media are located on the ground floor, fiction and the children’s and young people’s library on the first floor with non-fiction and magazines on the second floor. The subtle concrete structure of the ceiling and walls creates visual connections within the building and to the world outside. From inside, one becomes aware that the windows have three different sizes. They are set flush with fixed glazing and a wide wooden frame that conceals the insulation and vapour barrier. The appearance is similar to that of a “Petersburg hanging”, which famously prioritises the abundance of motifs over the consideration of individual works. As such, visitors are presented with numerous vignettes of the surroundings, rather than a single expansive view.

The individual levels of the library are dominated by the shelving system. The architects designed a system that rigorously organises the books while modulating the space. Made of cost-effective MDF, oiled for longevity, they have a pleasing handcrafted quality far preferable to standard industrial shelving, though at the cost of being non-adjustable. The restricted palette of materials is intended to ensure that they age well and are straightforward to maintain. The interior surfaces of the brick walls are whitewashed, wood and concrete is varnished, the floor screed oiled, with an additional epoxy coating in the sanitary facilities. The external walls are massive brickwork, in parts up to five rows deep. Remarkably, the building’s outstanding spatial and technical qualities were achieved with an exceptionally low budget of around two million euro.

Originally published in Bauwelt 44.2008, pp. 16-21, abridged and edited for Building Types Online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

 

 

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