Library, Kazan

For several years now the area of activity of Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat has been expanding eastwards. His office is currently working on buildings and urban design plans in, among others, Tirana, Bratislava, Moscow, Siberia and now also Kazan, the capital of the autonomous republic of Tatarstan in western Russia.

The commission to design the Tatarstan national library is the consequence of an invited competition, the result of which was announced in July. Van Egeraat's plan goes beyond a library in the literal meaning of the word, i.e. a repository for books. The building has been designed first and foremost as a continuation of the adjacent city centre. A large part of the library (total area: 81,000 m²) has been laid out as a public park that takes advantage of the natural slope of the land. Reading rooms and story reading areas are hidden beneath living green roofs out of which patios have been cut.

None of which means that the library is invisible: the eye-catching side elevations are organically cut away and two hard-to-miss towers mark the entrance to the new Tikai Square – 'like an open book' as Van Egeraat puts it. Between the towers – the library's public face – is an 18-metre-tall atrium. This space connects the forecourt with the rooftop park behind, which in turn links up with the existing Hermitage Park.

The multifunctional glass entrance hall is the link between city and library, and by enlarging this space and turning it into the heart of the building, Van Egeraat emphasizes the new function of the modern library. The latter is no longer a monumental closed temple of the book, but a public stage where knowledge is exchanged in a whole variety of ways: it is a transparent and accessible building; dynamic and flexible – just like the new media that it now contains. In keeping with the library's broader cultural role, the building will also house a theatre, exhibition spaces and a big library café. Spatially, too, the building is the direct opposite of a formal, hierarchically organized state library; the floor plans are open, filtered light enters through facades and roofs, and the intention is to create an informal, livingroom atmosphere.

Because even this expanded library programme did not completely fill the available plot of land, Van Egeraat has suggested building two mixed-use towers that put the two library towers in the shade. The National Bank has been mooted as a likely tenant of one of the buildings. In any event, the client has reacted favourably to the proposal so it may well be that the Kazan skyline will shortly acquire four new towers and the library will be more than ever a genuine piece of city.