Baton Rouge Library / Trahan Architects

Oct 2009

By David Basulto — Filed under: Museums and Libraries , Louisiana, Trahan Architects, USA

Louisiana based Trahan Architects, a firm with expertise in institutional design and religious architecture (check the Holy Rosary Church Complex, remarkable project), recently unveiled conceptual design for the renovation and expansion of the River Center Branch Library.

The project stands at the intersection between civic buildings and the city’s arts and entertainment district, overlooking a new town square. This new building becomes an urban piece, exposing the interior activity to the outside with a rippled translucent skin. But also the library takes care of the exterior, with reading areas and a urban patio.

As with changes on how people consume information, the typical library approach as a storage/reading facility gets obsolete. In response to this, the project is a public place for gathering and sharing around information, with circulation patterns that place stationary structures in the center of the floors and create space for staff and patron interaction, with movable parts and multiple paths along the perimeter.

During this days, the changes of information trough technology challenge library designs, while offering an opportunity to become important public spaces among our cities. In this way, I think this concept has a good start.

More images courtey of Trahan Architects after the break.

25 comments »

CMO ARCH says:

Pointless without some floor plans??

It’s a cool looking box but it has nothing to do with the plaza right in front of it!

# October 28, 2009 at 19:40

Comitant says:

I like their work, but Tschumi’s student center on Columbia University’s campus and OMA’s Library show quite poignantly that ramps are not well-occupied spaces. And who wants to walk forever when you get there 3x faster with stairs or an elevator?

At best, the Pontificial Lateran University Library uses the ramp sparingly, and I suspect, mostly as a technique of heightening and compressing certain spaces.

# October 28, 2009 at 19:52

Brett says:

I can pretty much guarantee that there are also stairs (at the very least for egress) and an elevator. The ramps are actually pretty nice and I can imagine just lazily walking up or down the ramps with a book in hand or even just to enjoy the space.

# October 29, 2009 at 02:43

rob.i says:

I thought at the biblioteca pontificia too and I think it works fine. Sure, you have to put something on the ramps or they won’t have any reason to exist (tables, shelving…).
Maybe the problem of that project is the architectural barrier made by the big stairs. A library should be 100% accessible to anyone

http://www.kingroselli.com/projects/pul/pul-2.html

# October 29, 2009 at 05:22

Mike says:

3 years ago, a friend in my college did a very smilar library project. Same way of hadling entrance and ramps to upper floors…

# October 28, 2009 at 20:41

architect says:

What a waste of space, Ramps?

# October 28, 2009 at 21:26

md says:

at first glance i thought it was a parking garage.

# October 28, 2009 at 21:38

db2ARCH says:

looks a lot like Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s art building at Brown and their museum in Rio?

# October 29, 2009 at 00:05

eoARCHstudent says:

yes who really wants to walk forever to get from one floor to the next? still, the ramps do create a nice “paper-like” design. i really like the stepped grassy incline area for lounging

# October 29, 2009 at 00:55

Joshua says:

The level of discourse on this site is abysmal.

# October 29, 2009 at 06:55

Joshua – what exactly is your level of discourse then?
Talking about ramps as a waste of space is too low brow for you?

# October 29, 2009 at 12:43

HugoR says:

The impression that I got, this is more like the stack of the books than a parking garage…,cool.

# October 29, 2009 at 07:22

JJ says:

“As with changes on how people consume information, the typical library approach as a storage/reading facility gets obsolete. In response to this, the project is a public place for gathering and sharing around information.”

Is anyone else tired of this idea? It was really cool 10 years ago. For fear of sounding “old-fashioned,” books still do have an important place in the world.

# October 29, 2009 at 14:05

David Basulto says:

JJ, they still have their place. But also, more and more facilities are becoming more focused on storage and conservation of books, and others act as places for gathering/research/etc.

# October 29, 2009 at 16:36

Dear readers,

After your comments, we have received a very detailed set of diagrams and drawings that explain more about this building. I´m uploading them now.

# October 29, 2009 at 16:37