He’s back! Hoping to build on the tremendous success of the Seattle Central Library, Rem Koolhaas and the OMA team are back. This time they’re in Qatar to build the National Library.
As ArchDaily said in they’re look at the Seattle Central library project:
The Seattle Central Library redefines the library as an institution no longer exclusively dedicated to the book, but as an information store where all potent forms of media—new and old—are presented equally and legibly. In an age where information can be accessed anywhere, it is the simultaneity of all media and, more importantly, the curatorship of their content that will make the library vital.
The building itself is reaching the level of the Space Needle and the Pike Place Market in the Emerald City’s iconography but more importantly usage of the library is twice as much as was first projected!
Qatar is hoping for a similar success. The Qatar National Library will be a place “where all Qataris can meet friends, enjoy moments with their families and spend leisure and creative time in their personal journey in search of knowledge and cultural experiences.” says Project Director Dr. Claudia Lux,
Among features the library will include digital media production facilities, a Children’s Library, performance spaces, and a cafe.
Here are 3-D renderings of the project, slated to open in 2014.
Qatar National Library Building Announcement from ArchDaily on Vimeo.
More at ArchDaily: OMA’s Plans for “Iconic” Qatar National Library. They also have a good look at the Seattle Central Library, with images and plans here.
Previously on Book Patrol:
The 25 Most Modern Libraries in the World
The Seattle Central Library: The Perfect Public Space?
Seattle and the New Koolhaas Central Library: Is the Honeymoon Over?