foster + partners: new york public library plans revealed

foster + partners plans for the new york public librarydbox branding & creative for Foster & Partners

back in 2008 it was announced that foster + partners would be redesigning the new york public library‘s landmark building(see more about this news on designboom here). now, the first plans to integrate a circulating library into the existing structure on 42nd street have been unveiled.ù

‘we are reasserting the library’s main axis and its very special sequence of spaces, from the main fifth avenue entrance and the astor hall, through the gottesman hall, into the dramatic volume of the new circulating library, with views through to the park. our design does not seek to alter the character of the building, which will remain unmistakably a library in its feel, in its details, materials, and lighting. it will remain a wonderful place to study. the parts that are currently inaccessible will be opened up, inviting the whole of the community—it is a strategy that reflects the principles of a free institution upon which the library was first founded.’ – lord norman foster

library goers will enter the main space from a balcony which offers adjacent views of bryant parkdbox branding & creative for Foster & Partners

the new design will open twice as much of the building to the public and will restore the logic of the neo-classical structure, improving the experience of the library’s historic halls. the two circulating collections will be housed in a spectacular new space previously occupied by book stacks.

just 30 percent of the library is currently accessible to the public – foster’s proposal will allow for more than double this, opening 66 percent of the building by utilizing unused reading rooms, back of house spaces, offices and book stacks making the building more inviting, more permeable, bringing books to the fore rather than hiding them away.

starting with the circulation strategy, the central axis through the neo-classical building will be reasserted. visitors will be able to walk in a straight line through the grand fifth avenue portico and the majestic astor hall into gottesman hall, where a permanent treasures gallery will display some of the most important pieces from the collection.

for the first time, the westerly doors of the gottesman hall will be opened up, restoring a sense of symmetry and intuitive circulation across the building. visitors will enter the new circulation library on a balcony in the centre of the former book stack space, where they will face elevated views of bryant park. from here, a grand staircase will sweep down to the main level, aligned with the park, and further to the state-of-the-art education and business library below.

the plans will restore the building’s neo-classical characteristics