“What is a monolith?”

Louis Kahn say that: « An opaque monolith casts a deep and dark shadow. »

He also say that: “Greek architecture taught me that the column is where the light is not, and the space between, is where the light is. It is a matter of no-light, light, no-light, light. »

This Free Service Library, try to question the idea of the monolith and take care of the environmental questions.

The building follow the plot’s shape and recreate the built front of the place that is missing now a days.

This plot is a trapeze and have a big diagonal. This diagonal generate all the project elements and separate the project in two part.

One side where there is the Gable walls that create a space without light, that is perfect to protect the book. And the other side where there is openings that bring light inside the reading rooms. Between the two spaces there is the vertical circulations.

The facade is in limestone from a career around the city.

The facade is built in stone for environmental issues. This material also have thermal inertia that is perfect to protect the books and the users from the heat of the city.

There is also local issues, indeed some building are built in stone around the plot.

The structure inside is in wood for more compacity. This wooded structural frame is generate from the diagonal and is lighter than the stones in facade.

Each level of the reading rooms are singled out thanks to the furniture and the colors.

We finish with the roof top terrace, where the high guard rails hide the city and reveal the acropolis, the hills and the distant mountains.