The Bellefonte Library

The Stacks

First floor plan

Longitudinal Section

This project was a design for a little community library in the town of Bellefonte, PA. The site was a challenge - a very thin, long site that had once been a medical supplies store. Meanwhile, in my architectural theory class, we were studying the greatest architects of the 20th century, including Louis Khan.  

Exeter Library, Louis Khan

I was inspired by the monumentality of the work of Louis Kahn, which led me to investigate other works with a similar spirit. I discovered the work of Peter Zumthor, and was impressed by two of his works in particular:

...The Bruder Klaus Chapel...

...and the Vals Spa in Switzerland.

All of these projects have a sense of monumentality, and I set out to figure out how they managed to create this feeling. When one of my professors gave a lecture on stereotomy and tectonics, it finally clicked. The spaces I loved so much were ones that seemed almost carved out somehow. The feeling I was trying to accomplish was that of stereotomy. 

My goal with this project was to create a heavy, monumental space for the keeping of the books, and to contrast it, a light, airy space at the top of the building for reading. 

concept diagram

  

cross section