Abstract
The period after the Second World War was a golden age for library buildings in Germany — especially when investment in higher education was increased in the ‘Bildungsexpansion’. Typical examples of new and reconstructed buildings are checked against modern demands, based on a survey of the German university buildings in 2008. The paper gives an overview of the development of library architecture in Germany. It is a first case study for future evaluation activities in this field as well.
Highlights
This evaluation is based on the questionnaire developed from Andrew McDonalds list of commandments.[1]
For the paper given at the LIBER Architecture group Seminar in Budapest on April 8, 2008, only some of the libraries could be presented and in this printed version the number had to be reduced even more; a more comprehensive publication is in preparation
The results of the evaluation are presented as a vertical-bar diagram
Summary
After the Second World War German architects started where they had left off before the war: they built traditional libraries with three different sections: the reading room, the library administration and the closed book shelves. The extreme tower solution was realised at the University library in Karlsruhe (Diagram 2).[9] The closed stacks are at the top of the building, the staff is arranged between the book and the users’ area. In this case quite an impressive extension was built with the real goal of a 24/7 library. 7. The open (access) library: The opening of book areas for readers was a real revolution for the German library world. The open (access) library: The opening of book areas for readers was a real revolution for the German library world The building is too small for the growing university
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