Library Architecture: “Book-Shaped” Branch of the National Library of Korea Scheduled to Open Next Month

The Sejong City branch of the National Library of Korea is scheduled to open on December 12, 2013.
From The Dong-A Ilbo:

The exterior of the building, in the shape of a book whose two wings are slightly lifted up towards the sky, and its windows arranged in long vertical form are instilling cultural emotion into Sejong City, which is still abuzz with humming noise of construction machinery. The building, sitting against the backdrop of Lake Park, has already become a landmark of the young city due to its unique, three-dimensional appearance.
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The National Sejong Library is the lone branch of the National Library of Korea in Seoul’s Seocho district. To live up to the characteristic of Sejong City, the new library envisions a policy library designed to support civil servants’ policy making, but will partially offer the functions of a public library for Sejong citizens, including operation of a children’s library and book rental.

The ‘E-BRARY’, a compound word of Emotion and Library, implies a library that accommodates digital in the analog form while reflecting the human touches. Grounded on three strategy concepts of the ‘emotional shape, emotional space and emotional experience’, the National Library of Sejong City aims to be not only a research-oriented library but also an open library to the inhabitants.

From Design Boom:

The architecture’s swooping roof references the motif of a book page turned over, which speaks of the building’s functions–a place where analogue and digital formats of information converge, offering users maximum convenience of sourcing volumes of data.

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