Welcome to a proposed extension of the Stockholm Public Library. This project, called “The Book Hill” is one that makes use of what were thought to be limitations in the landscape to create a building that not only holds books, but acts as a landmark for the city. These limits include the Observatory Hill that sits next to the site; giant, beautiful, too steep to be useful, and the library in place; the Asplund library, with its three detached annexes that separate the library into four.
The solution is a snake. A “continuous boulevard” from street level to Observatory Hill top. The most obvious perk of which is the glorious view of the city, not normally accessible without hovercraft or helicopter.
Books? The fiction section will remain in the Asplund Library, while the sciences will run in one continuous “string of pearls” in order from bottom to top along the “Media Boulevard.”
Walking along the Media Boulevard, the visitor will encounter an unfolding of various spatial and programmatic experiences as one passes by the Main Entrance, Auditorium Foyer, Library Café Institute of Children’s Books, Learning Zone and finally the Observatory Restaurant. All of it leaves an impression of a diverse and lively Public Library.
All this intersected by The Short Cut. An axis which acts as an access, the main entrance which exits into the Observatory Hill.
Designers: Jan Yoshiyuki Tanaka & Jakob Steen Christensen of JAJA Architects
