This 1 780 sq.m. public library is housed in the former Landau slaughterhouse, originally built in 1895. Planned to accommodate a collections of some 75 000 books, CDs and periodicals, the original building was enlarged with a glass enclosed annex, creating an obvious transition between the old and the new building. As the architects say ''The point at which the former outer wall has been perforated and rendered as wounds.'' The ground floor contains the entry, foyer, exhibition area and a café, the children's library and the main reading room with open stacks, connecting bridges that link the old and the new spaces, the offices and meeting rooms are located above. Concerned that they were dealing with a heavy, antiquated structure originally used for a very different purpose, the architects have created a thoroughly modern and convivial library.

 

Source : Jodidio, Philip, Architecture Now, Taschen, Cologne, 2001.