January 26, 2016
Snøhetta/Contributed Art
A rendering of Temple University's new library, slated to be completed in 2019.
The firm pegged with designing Temple University’s upcoming library has released new renderings of the building, set to anchor the center of the school's main campus landscape.
The design, which has received approval from Philadelphia's Civic Design Review, is "inspired by the historic academies of Greek antiquity," according to its creator, the New York firm Snøhetta.
Construction on the library is slated to begin soon and the project is expected to be completed by Fall 2018.
A rendering of Temple University's new library, slated to be completed in 2018.
Snøhetta describes the facility as one that creates a "diversity of spaces," something that will "encourage knowledge-sharing" among students. Here's more on the library's design, from Snøhetta:
The new library’s architecture is defined by a solid base clad in vertical sections ofrough stone that references the materials of the surrounding campus context. The grand wooden arched entrances cut into the stone volume and announce a welcoming point of entry. Expanses of pleated frameless glass supported on steel mullions create maximum transparency at the major entrances.
A rendering of the interior of Temple University's new library, slated to be completed in 2018.
Snøhetta/Contributed Art
Inside the new library will be a new book-retrieval system -- called BookBot -- that saves space by packing books into metal bins and having a digital database that users can search and request what they want.
This improves upon the system at Paley Library, which is being repurposed as a welcome center. Paley was built in the 1960s and used more than 70 percent of its space for book storage, the school says.
A rendering of Temple University's new library, slated to be completed in 2018.
