Musashino Art University Museum & Library
Musashino Art University Museum and Library
1-736 Ogawa-machi, Kodaira, Tokyo 〒 187-8505
The first library I chose is the Musashino Art University Museum & Library, university campus located in Toyko, Japan. Built in 2010, it is the final renovation of the original 1962 building, which has been completely transformed by the vision of the Japanese award winning architect Sou Fujimoto.
It is essentially a building made up of bookshelves from the inside and the outside. A glass shell (0.3 inches thick) encasing wooden bookshelves 28 feet high. There are three storeys, and the first floor consists of a long, spiral shaped bookcase which is wrapped around the edege. It is an incredible design, and unfortunately I couldn't find any pictures to post that were not in copyright. But the layout of the bookshelves follow this similar pattern
There is plenty of room downstair for people to sit and the books are all very accessible. At 69,000 square feet, the library can hold up to 300,000 books.
For some great pictures of the library, click on this link.
The upstairs also has large bookshelves the curve around the perimeter, where in the middle there is the reference desk and plenty of areas where people can sit. While there are computers and private study carols and meeting rooms, the dominant objects within the visual field are large bookshelves. Hence, the book is still the dominant feature of the library, compared to the computer.
This building is also very striking from the outside, and seeing a huge bookcase through class, that wraps around the outside, immediately identifies the building as a library. In fact, it can be seen all around the campus. The spiral shape draws one towards something, perhaps knowledge? imagination? ideas?
I found this great interview with Sou Fujimoto talking about what he was trying to achieve in his design and his thoughts on the library. Being a vimeo video, blogger didn't allow me to upload it here. But to view the video, simply click on this link http://vimeo.com/21702196#t=12
Sou Fujimoto talks about designing a library in the age of information.He sees the starting point of architecture as beginning with the fact that people have a body and feelings, where as information has no physical space. So the challenge is to merge the feelings that one might experience for example when using the internet for example, with that of the physical environment.
He also uses a “forest of books” concept. In using the analogy of a forest to describe how he sees architecture – the forest contains so many different elements, that one might be only aware of 10% of what is going on when one strolls through it. The animals and creatures that inhabit it all have their own perception of what is going on. Information technology, such as using the internet would be one component of this “forest’.
Musashino Art University Museum and Library
1-736 Ogawa-machi, Kodaira, Tokyo 〒 187-8505
The first library I chose is the Musashino Art University Museum & Library, university campus located in Toyko, Japan. Built in 2010, it is the final renovation of the original 1962 building, which has been completely transformed by the vision of the Japanese award winning architect Sou Fujimoto.
It is essentially a building made up of bookshelves from the inside and the outside. A glass shell (0.3 inches thick) encasing wooden bookshelves 28 feet high. There are three storeys, and the first floor consists of a long, spiral shaped bookcase which is wrapped around the edege. It is an incredible design, and unfortunately I couldn't find any pictures to post that were not in copyright. But the layout of the bookshelves follow this similar pattern
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| Source: Penelope Else from FlickR |
There is plenty of room downstair for people to sit and the books are all very accessible. At 69,000 square feet, the library can hold up to 300,000 books.
For some great pictures of the library, click on this link.
The upstairs also has large bookshelves the curve around the perimeter, where in the middle there is the reference desk and plenty of areas where people can sit. While there are computers and private study carols and meeting rooms, the dominant objects within the visual field are large bookshelves. Hence, the book is still the dominant feature of the library, compared to the computer.
This building is also very striking from the outside, and seeing a huge bookcase through class, that wraps around the outside, immediately identifies the building as a library. In fact, it can be seen all around the campus. The spiral shape draws one towards something, perhaps knowledge? imagination? ideas?
I found this great interview with Sou Fujimoto talking about what he was trying to achieve in his design and his thoughts on the library. Being a vimeo video, blogger didn't allow me to upload it here. But to view the video, simply click on this link http://vimeo.com/21702196#t=12
Sou Fujimoto talks about designing a library in the age of information.He sees the starting point of architecture as beginning with the fact that people have a body and feelings, where as information has no physical space. So the challenge is to merge the feelings that one might experience for example when using the internet for example, with that of the physical environment.
He also uses a “forest of books” concept. In using the analogy of a forest to describe how he sees architecture – the forest contains so many different elements, that one might be only aware of 10% of what is going on when one strolls through it. The animals and creatures that inhabit it all have their own perception of what is going on. Information technology, such as using the internet would be one component of this “forest’.
The use of light is very important and soft light shines down through translucent white polycarbonate.
There is a lot of timber in the library, which is reminiscent of trees in a forest. From the pictures and descriptions, I love the openness of the space, and the sense of continual growth and change invoked by the empty shelving. Having so much space for more books (even though much of it would never be used due to lack of accessibility and load-bearing ability) reminds one that there is always more knowledge, books and information to be created. The empty box like shaped shelving, are like books, in the sense that a book is a finite physical object that can be handled and categorized and understood . It is a manageable chunk of human reality. When looking around this library, these empty boxes open up a space for one to imagine something to fill the spaces. I read later in Tanaka's article that Fujitso himself said that they "hint at the infinite expansion of information into realms that transcend the medium of the book". I think fostering a sense of imagination in a library is wonderful, and though knowledge is critically important, and libraries are a storehouse of knowledge, I am reminded of what Albert Einstein once said the imagination is more important than knowledge!
Sou Fujimoto also wanted to create a great spiral bookshelf which wraps around the outside of the library. I think it’s a brilliant concept which immediately identifies the building as a library.
As I indicated, I couldn't post any pics due to copyright, but it is very easy to find some pictures of the library simply through Google images. However there were still surprisingly few pictures available through sites like Google, Flickr and nothing through the creative commons sites. There were only a few good articles through the Swinburne library databases and Google scholar. I also used iseek
References:
Arch Daily 2011, Musashino Art University Museum & Library / Sou Fujimoto, Arch Daily, viewed 2 June 2012, http://www.archdaily.com/145789/musashino-art-university-museum-library-sou-fujimoto/
College of Art and Design 2012, Musashino University, viewed 2 June 2012, <http://mauml.musabi.ac.jp/>
Gregory, R 2010, '165 Musashino Art University Library. (Sou Fujimoto Architects)', The Architectural Review, vol. 228, no. 228, pp. 42, Gale Cengate, viewed 2 June 2012.
Pollock, N 2011, Musashino Art University Museum & Library, Architectural Record, viewed 2 June 2012, http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/building_types_study/libraries/2011/musashino.asp
Sou Fujimoto 2012, Architects, viewed 2 June 2012, <http://www.sou-fujimoto.net/>
Sou Fujimoto, on designing a library on the age of information 2012, Archdaily, viewed 2 June, <http://vimeo.com/21702196#t=12>
Tanaka, J 2010, Spiral of Life: The Musashino Art University Museum & Library Academia edu, viewed 2 June 2012, http://utokyo.academia.edu/JunTanaka/Papers/373615/Spiral_of_Life_The_Musashino_Art_University_Museum_and_Library
Spiral Fossil 2009, Penelope Else, viewed 11 June, 2012<http://www.flickr.com/photos/55922608@N00/3781109890/>
Musashino Art University Library by Sou Fujimoto Architects 2011, De Zeen magazine, viewed 11 June 2012, <http://www.dezeen.com/2011/05/12/musashino-art-university-libraryby-sou-fujimoto-architects/#more-127893>
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