Library Design: At Cornell’s New Fine Arts Library, the Book Sets the Standard

UPDATE: November 15, 2019 Cornell’s New Library Exposes Students to More Than Literature (via NY Post)

—End Update–

Material From Three Reports.

From  Metropolis:

Unlike recent university libraries which are premised on the absence of physical books, Cornell University’s new art and architecture library is an old-school print palace.

Here, printed matter sets the standard. “Everything is scaled to the book,” architect Wolfgang Tschapeller explained. “As a human, you are not the main character, you are a guest between the books.”

The new fit-out, officially the Mui Ho Fine Arts Library, gestated for five years at Tschapeller’s eponymous Vienna firm before its soft opening in early August. Inside, the expressive 27,000-square-foot structure hints at the intensive work that lifted a much-modified 1911 steel-and-masonry neoclassical building into the 21st century. While the exterior is a spiffier version of its old self, the interior is dramatically reconfigured. Its most prominent feature are the shelves on the main floor, where over 100,000 volumes appear to float midair across staggered honeycomb steel mezzanines.

Learn More, Read the Complete Article

Learn More (via Architectural Record)

Learn More (via Arch Daily)

See Also: infoDOCKET Post From August 30, 2019 (Includes Video):
Cornell University: New Mui Ho Fine Arts Library Inspires by Design

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