The 40.000 sqm building is placed on a white unpolished marble platform, with mirror finished stainless steel wings lifted up the perimeter edges to reflect the building from different angles.
The architecture of the proposed building is a three dimensional object shaped to minimize the volume and to extend the views over the surrounding tree level. Its unique form and curvature is a reference to baroque buildings in Prague.
The skin is covered with champagne coloured anodised aluminium tiles fading from dark at the bottom to light at the top. Generous levels of natural light in all public spaces are provided by circular areas of glazing distributed over the external skin. Special features inside the building include the top level viewing platform and café with spectacular vistas over Prague, comfortable and colourful reading rooms, the first level ‘street’ which continues the public realm through ramps and stairs from the street and park inside the building, and the educational viewing well to the automated book storage. The estimated volume of 10 million books stored underground are distributed by an Automated Storage and Retrieval System and reach the reader in less than 5 minutes. At the day of its completion in 2011, the New National Library of the Czech Republic will be one of the most modern Libraries in the world. |
