helsinki central library proposal by bam!

‘the heart of the library’ by bam!, helsinki, finland
all images © bam! studio

‘the heart of the library’ is a proposal for the city of helsinki by torino-based bam! studio which embraces the internet revolution. reading terraces
line the exterior walls of the building, integrating a digital library. at the midpoint of the footprint, structure lifts to form a protected plaza.
bringing visitors up into the library, long escalators are flanked with stacks of books spanning from the ground floor to the roof plane.
placing the materiality of a printed book on display, the walls of knowledge contrast with today’s lack of physical objects to convey information.
stored inside a virtual ‘cloud’, e-books, posts, tweets, pictures, videos and music which are accessed instantaneously.

lobby

escalator

reading area

elevation view

floor plan / level  0

floor plan / level 1

floor plan / level 2

floor plan / level 3

section

section

sections

concept

form diagram

digital library

distribution scheme

project info:

project title: the heart of the library
status: helsinki central library competition,  competition entry
program: library, media library, music hall, cinema, offices, restaurant, sauna
area: 10 000 mq
architects: bam! bottega di architettura metropolitana
design team: alberto bottero, valeria bruni, simona della rocca, gabriele druetta, fabio vignolo
collaborators: alessandro capello, paolo carignano, giulia nardi
consultants: luca giacosa, carlo micono