Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart

The Stuttgart City Library was completed in 2011. It was designed by Yi Architects and it is a 9-storey building which rises up in the área of the Mailänder Platz. It is an area which is perceived to be a future city centre. Inside it looks like a painting by Escher with all the stairs going up and down.

Eun Young Yi:

He was born in 1956 in Daecheon, in Korea. He studied architecture first at Hanyang University in Korea (1976-1983) and then in Aachen, Germany (1984-1990) where he was a pupil of Prof. Peter Kulka.
He started working as "Yi Architects" in 1994 in Köln and he still continues working there. He has also been professor at the University of Hanyang since 2000. Some of his Works are the Nationalmuseum in Korea, 1995; the Felix-Nussbaum-Haus in Osnabrük, 1995; the library in Nanjing, 1999; the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Centre in Berlin, 2004; and the Central Mosque in Köln in 2006. In 2013
the Stadtbibliothek in Stuttgart received the
national award for the best libray in Germany.

History of the building:

The building, a detached, monolithic cube, is a symbol of the significance of the library as a new intelectual and cultural centre. In earlier years, it was a church or palace that marked the centre of a town. but nowadays it is a place for individual knowledge, a Storey of words.
It has 20.225 square metres and the overall cost 79.000.000€. The interior design includes intelligent shelving, shelf-steering holleys, touch screens which provide information about events and new library passes which contain a chip for payment.

Structure and materials:

the building has a great physical presence. It takes the form of a cube with an edge length of 45 metres. It is constructed out of pale-grey concrete framing frosted glass bricks. It has a double façade, so it has a thermal shell.
The square construction can be accessed from all four sides and it includes at entry level a central space, te heart of the building, which is a 4-storey space. Above it is a 5-storey pyramid-shaped reading room, which is surrounded by various study romos and which is illuminated by a glass ceiling above. Finally there is a roof terrace with views over the whole town.

Impressions:

The mighty cube is impressive. At night it looks like a lighthous, glowing in blue light, creating a mysterious effect. It is an amazing book palace.

Our drawings:

Exterior by Sara Pantoja

Interior by Paula Pantoja












Project made by Sara Pantoja, Paula Pantoja, Andrea Rodríguez and Carmela Palacios