Museums and Libraries: The Latest Architecture and News

The last chance to see the Barnes Foundation’s artwork in its original setting has passed. It is now being prepared for the move to its new home in downtown Philadelphia. Architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien designed the new building for the Barnes Foundation with respect for its strong history and as a reflective addition of the foundation’s mission. The building is scheduled for completion in late 2011. More after the break.

Architectural firm manadelucru has shared with us their recent proposal for the Cluj National Library Extension, located in Cluj Romania. Images and text after the break.

Yan ZhenQing Museum, designed by Serie Architects, displays works from the important calligrapher of the same name who lived in Shandong Province in China during the 8th century. His work introduced an element of vertical rhythm into the calligraphic script, and set up a style that was simpler and bolder. Situated in the beautiful landscape near the city of Linyi, the museum also strikes a bold stance in relation to its landscape. Rather than merge into the landscape the museum is placed on a series of three terraces that rise slightly above the topography. On these plateaus the museum takes on the qualities of a type of traditional Chinese garden known as the scholars’ garden. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Opening in 2012, the $118 million steel, glass, and copper-clad expansion to Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum by Renzo Piano Building Workshop will more than double the size of the current facility. Included in the project are a new entrance, music hall, gallery space, and other amenities for an institution that has remained largely unaltered since opening in 1903.

The Internet is now the library of the past. Where the public library has historically served as the primary source of information gathering and dissemination, we now look to this new virtual, infinitely large library that can be accessed anywhere at any time as the Library of the present.

As a result, the primary roles of today’s physical libraries have shifted. Libraries of the past focused primarily on individualized information consumption. Communal aspects of interaction and information dissemination now represent the core mission of the library when information is more easily accessible. The silent grand beaux-arts reading rooms of New York or Boston have of the past been transformed into flexible communal “living rooms” in Seattle.

Dellekamp Arquitectos + Periférica shared with us their proposal for the Gosta Museum Extension competition. The project aims to preserve the historical value and prominence of the original building by smoothly integrating it to the new museum. More images and architects’ description after the break.