OMA-designed Qatar National Library Opens to Public
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Designed by OMA, the Qatar National Library in Doha has officially opened its doors to the public on April 16, 2018.Qatar National Library includes the national library, the public library, the university library, and the heritage collection, housing valuabl
OMA-designed Qatar National Library Opens to Public
Designed by OMA, the Qatar National Library in Doha has officially opened its doors to the public on April 16, 2018.Qatar National Library includes the national library, the public library, the university library, and the heritage collection, housing valuable texts and manuscripts related to the Arab-Islamic civilization. Rem Koolhaas-led firm OMA has built the angular concrete building with diamond-shaped facades. The public library houses more than a million books and space for thousands of readers over an area of 42,000 square meters. The library is part of the Education City, a new academic campus which hosts satellite campuses from leading universities and institutions from around the world.OMA has held a long-term interest in the library dating back to the competition for the National Library of France in 1989. OMA has tried to express the vitality of the book by creating a design that brings study, research, collaboration, and interaction within the collection itself — a collection that consists of over one million volumes, among which are some of the most important and rare manuscripts in the Middle East.The library is conceived as a single room which houses both books and space for readers. The bookshelves are meant to be part of the building both in terms of materiality — they are made of the same white marble as the floors — and of infrastructure — they incorporate artificial lighting, ventilation, and the book return system. A column-free bridge connects the library’s main aisles, allowing for a variety of routes throughout the building. The bridge is also a meeting space: it hosts media and study rooms, reading tables, exhibition displays, a circular conference table, and a large multipurpose auditorium, enclosed by a retractable curtain designed by Amsterdam studio InsideOutside, who were also responsible for the landscaping.The heritage collection is placed at the center of the library in a six-meter-deep excavated-like space, clad in beige travertine. The collection can also operate autonomously, directly accessible from the outside.After a trial period of six months, the library was inaugurated by the current Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who placed the one-millionth book, a rare 843-year-old manuscript copy of Sahih Al Bukhari, on the library’s shelves. Qatar National Library plays a central role in the Education City, a project initiated by Her Highness Shiekha Mozah and the Qatar Foundation as part of Qatar’s transition to a knowledge-based economy.http://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder Louise Blouin Read more
