menomenopiu architects: helsinki central library

‘helsinki central library’ by menomenopiu architectsinterior view © +imgs

based out of rome and paris, menomenopiu architecture studio has conceived a proposal for the helsinki central library. developed to depict a tree forest enclosed in a climatic box, the building uses the organic organization of wooden pillars, where they are then re-produced on the glazed envelope to create a link between nature and architecture, between the light and shadows.its transparent facade gives to the building a high visual permeability, allowing users to follow the internal events and the client to have a strong link with the greenspace and its surroundings. the exterior lifts, allowing life to penetrate through, reducing the urban limit between takatoolo park and alvar aallon katu street.

the program develops in a spiral which reaches the winter gardens just under the roof structure. the slab system is an open space, leaving an extreme flexibility to the program organization. extensible partitions are hidden through all the building in the pillars, giving the opportunity to privatize different functions when needed. 

aerial view image © +imgs

each block is provided with an energy supply with a technological ceiling controlling local airflow. with rooms that need particular light, acoustic isolation or special equipment are placed in fixed closed boxes. the library organization locates the noisy spaces near the basement, where most activities will be concentrated, with the most quiet areas placed in the top part of the building . the ground floor acts as filter in between these two areas, preserving the internal microclimate by recycling the warm air of the western double facade. during the warmer periods of the year the roof opens to allow the natural air flow coming from the toolonlahki bay.

view from the parkimage © +imgs 

view of the hall image © +imgs 

night view image © +imgs 

interior night view image © +imgs 

site plan

section – elevation 

ground floor plan 

level 2 plan 

conceptual diagrams

project info: 

designers: menomenopiu architectsproject team: mario emanuele salini, rocco valantines, gilberto bonelli, alessandro balducci, paolo venturella, marco lavit nicora, francois zab, pietro bodriaengineering: buro happold / alasdair youngrenderings: +imgs

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.