Kanazawa Umimirai Library
金沢海みらい図書館
4 savesWishlisted by Michelle
Sleek, minimalist, spacious, automated, environmentally friendly, community inviting-- Welcome to the future of libraries. Kanazawa Umimirai Library stands almost as an eye sore in the middle of residential areas. But this architectural feat brings in the 21st century to what once was considered the dying "business" of libraries. This "cake box" of a building not only holds shelves upon shelves of books (some of these shelves are automated, by the way!), and the typical reading/ study areas for both for those allowing themselves to be bothered, or isolated from the others, it also holds complex halls and meeting spaces, giving a more communal and neighborly feel to the typical library. The walls are punctured with around 6000 translucent glass holes, giving natural lighting to this 12- meter high building. By entirety, the library is crafted with the acknowledgement of giving a space for those who read for pleasure and those who read for work, keeping in mind the needed space for the community and the 400,00 books they house, the acoustics, the climate and tempreture (as they do rely on natural lighting) and even the smell. All of these are accounted to help create a healthy environment to stay, and be productive around the library.
I-1-1 Jichumachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
Other posts about Kanazawa Umimirai Library
Perforated sunlight filters in from the 6,000 round windows of this massive library in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. On any day, bookworms weave through the labyrinth of free-standing shelves to pore over a selection of 400,000 books. The structure is simple, a white rectangular block, but it’s in the simple repetitions that the public library stuns its visitors. The straightforward structure is stripped from excess, a tranquil atmosphere enveloping the room as people dive into other worlds between the pages found within.
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