反思：图书馆

文/比亚内•哈马（SHL建筑师事务所）

by Bjarne Hammer, schmidt hammer lassen architects

反思：图书馆

Reflections: Libraries

文/比亚内•哈马（SHL建筑师事务所）

by Bjarne Hammer, schmidt hammer lassen architects

前言

图书馆作为文学或电影的背景是具有符号性的。它经常被描绘成昏暗、幽静的神秘之地。在这里，主人公探索问题，追寻智慧。观众解码并认可把图书馆作为他们可以想象到的地方的建构性表征。图书馆虚构的表征常常给人以浓烈的氛围感——强烈的地域感，同时，它与观众对当下真实图书馆的亲身体验又截然不同，如何做到这一点，令人颇感兴趣。

演变

图书馆作为一种机构，自古有之。追溯到数千年前，从埃及、希腊、波斯以及罗马的历史中我们可以看到，最早的图书馆主要是储存信息的档案室。在那个年代，大多数人不识字，所以保存的都是受过教育的人（即精英阶层）的知识。然而，自十五世纪古藤堡（德国活版印刷发明人）发明印刷术以来，书籍、文学、知识都不再为少数人所有，广大民众也可以获取。从此一个具有划时代意义的文化运动就开始慢慢形成了，直到今天“信息社会”达到令人震惊的速度。

传统的图书馆具有排他性，只为特权阶级服务。现代的图书馆则具有包容性，它能满足所有社会阶层、不同性别以及各个年龄阶段的人的需求。因此，据说未来的图书馆将进一步打破障碍。设计挑战传统，面向未来的建筑对建筑设计师来说是件有趣的事。

图书馆的功能已经获得了全面的发展，建筑也得到了全面的提升。我认为图书馆建筑学已经演变为表征独特品质的建筑类型学，具有巨大的社会、教育、文化方面的潜能，在当今和未来社会起重要作用。

现代图书馆

首先人们为什么要去图书馆呢？今天，几乎每一个人随时随地都能获得信息，那么图书馆能提供什么呢？

图书馆是一个公共社会空间，与博物馆一样，是现存的少数我们可以享用的非商业性城市空间之一。在图书馆，对于有机会使用各种媒介的访问者来说，知识唾手可得且基本免费即可获取。在图书馆，我们可以利用资源，享受服务，而这被认为是绝对特权。

未来的图书馆必将满足个性化的用户需求，同时要满足大众化的集体需求。用户访问图书馆的动机五花八门，如基于人群交往的社会层面因素。此外，人们到图书馆学习知识以启智，搜寻信息，追踪新闻动态；有人来做学术研究，还有一些人与他们的学习小组或读书俱乐部一起聚会。大多数用户出现在城市文化热点区域，以获取所谓的“文化资本”，同时也有助于“文化资本”的形成。

图书馆为大众提供了知识、空间，成为社会精神的缩影。现代图书馆的一个主要功能让人们可以获得帮助他们解读与理解自己所生活的世界的媒介。为此，坚持图书馆代表民主价值观，为大众提供社交平台的观点尤为重要。

图书馆作为第三空间

图书馆在社会中扮演着重要角色，因为他们是社会中心、城市集会的地点。因此，建筑师设计图书馆的时候，通过组织空间，拥有改善和创建人们新型交往方式的机会。

“第三空间”的理论能够解释图书馆与社会中心概念相关的原因。这一概念是1989年城市社会学家雷•奥登伯格在他的著作《绝好的地方》提出来的。他在书中分析了家和工作场所以外的很多地点。从理论层面来说，这个概念指人们在社区或邻里见面以便建立友谊、讨论话题以及建立工资关系的非正式的地方。第三空间很有价值，因为他们为人们交流，培养归属感和团体意识（也可视为自豪感的源头）创造了空间。此外，奥登伯格发现第三空间反对隔离的同时促进了社会交往，因为他们为工作了一整天的人们提供了交友和娱乐的场所。这样，第三空间成为中性区域——公共空间和私人空间之间的交点。在这里，与工作和家庭生活相关的需求与义务都被排除在外。作为一个积极例子，图书馆提供了家庭与工作之间开放式的休闲空间。

图书馆建筑传递的是开放性、可及性、包容性。作为满足确定和非确定需求的空间，它与第三空间理论观念，以颇为有趣的方式相互关联。图书馆为正式和非正式活动提供了空间，一方面是图书馆的功能和服务所附带的具体物质环境，另一方面是休闲、交流空间。

当代图书馆的设计

今天的数字社会与转型社会需要快速获取相关知识。因此，未来的图书馆必须满足用户24小时查询知识的期望。同时，互联网和新型媒体挑战纸质书本的地位，因为他们以灵活的选择，潜在改变用户的期望和行为为导向。然而，与人们不再需要图书馆的担忧相反，图书馆的角色和影响可能会随着对适应性强的新型便利性学习空间的需求的扩大而增强。

图书馆通过其内部环境的功能和舒适服务于读者，可是它渴望获得自己的建筑身份。在图书馆的设计阶段，要考虑方方面面的因素。如果我们希望设计一座具有可及性、包容性和开放性的图书馆，最好的方法是确保设计过程畅所欲言，接受创新观念，比如，邀请用户群组加入讨论。

对建筑师来说，与建筑未来的用户对话和互动是充满挑战却非常具有价值的开发工具。用户驱动的设计创新的参与过程在早期就融入到设计过程中会大有益处。总之，专业的图书馆员、学生、访客和周边的社区总体上能够贡献有益的想法、投入，最重要的是专业知识。此外，这个过程让人具有重要的奉献精神和主人翁意识。

用户视角可以让建筑师洞察工作流程、工作职能、劳动关系、访客行为、服务期望和信息要求。所有这些概述了未来用户和职员的需要和优先考虑事项。邀请用户群能参加具体问题的讨论：选址、形态结构和内部结构，为设计团队提供尽可能多的相关信息。

不仅设计过程的用户参与会大大激发和培养公众的主人翁意识与归属感，图书馆建筑竣工后也会为机构、城市与周边社区传递公认的价值观。

地域感

大多数人都去过图书馆。每个人对作为一个机构和一个场所的图书馆都持有自己的观点。图书馆作为一个场所与我们感官保留的不同印象有关：声音效果、寂静无声、书墨之香、灯光照片以及时间的流逝。图书馆具有悠久的历史，具有符号的特性，但它也是一个大家都知道的地方，一个开放式的机构。它在我们生活的小镇上，在我们学习的校园里，或者在我们上班路上的一栋建筑里。我喜欢把图书馆的独特氛围看作是一种“地域感”。

当一些场所被社会赋予了更深刻的意义或定义时，据说它们就有了强烈的“地域感”。设计现代的多功能图书馆完全是创建一个具有稳定的身份和特色的独一无二的场所，满足用户确定和不确定的需求。这个地方培养了真正的依恋与归属感。

建筑与地域感的体验紧密相连，并且会逐渐发生变化。在当代和未来的社会里，作为机构的图书馆毫无疑问会发挥越来越重要的作用。图书馆将一直是一个学习、共享和交流的独一无二的空间，也是熏陶与灵感的庇护所。我无法想象在消费时代能有没有图书馆这样的地方。

Foreword

The library as literary or filmic scenography is iconic. It is often portrayed as a place of mystique and secrecy, as a dim and quiet location, where the protagonist searches for answers and for wisdom. The spectator decodes and recognizes the constructed representation of the library as a place to which he or she can relate. It is interesting how the fictional representation of the library often creates a strong sense of atmosphere – a strong sense of place – while it simultaneously differs from the spectator’s self-experienced knowledge of the authentic library of today.

EvoIution

The library as institution is ancient. Dating back thousands of years, through Egyptian, Greek, Persian and Roman history, the first libraries were primarily archives for storing information. As the majority of the population was illiterate during these eras, the knowledge stored was the preserve of the educated – the elite. However, when Gutenberg invented the printing press in the fifteenth century, books, literature, knowledge, became available to the masses. This was an epochal cultural movement that has evolved ever since – right up to the staggering speed of today’s ‘information society’.

Whereas the classical library was exclusive, and catered to the privileged classes, the modern library is inclusive and accommodates all social classes, genders and ages. Hence it is said that the library of the future will have to break down barriers further. This is an interesting task for the architect – to design a building that defies conventions and looks to the future.

As the function of the library has developed extensively, so too has the architecture. I believe that library architecture has evolved to represent a building typology of unique character, with huge social, educational, and cultural potential, and of great importance to the society of today and tomorrow.

The Modern Library

Why do people visit libraries in the first place? And what can the library offer nowadays, when information is accessible to almost everyone, anywhere, at any time?

The library is a public and social space, which, alongside museums, is one of the few existing non-commercial civic spaces available to us. At the library, knowledge is readily available to visitors who get the chance to use different sorts of media, more or less for free. At the library, we can avail of materials and services, and this should be considered an unconditional privilege.

The library of the future has to meet the individual user’s specific needs, as well as the opposing needs for immersion and community. Users have a long list of diverse motivations for visiting the library; for example, the social dimension that lies in being surrounded by people. Moreover, users come to enlighten themselves with knowledge, to find information, to keep track of the flow of news; some do academic research, others get together with their study group or book club. A substantial proportion of users come to be seen in the city’s cultural hot spot, to gain, and contribute to, so-called ‘cultural capital’.

As libraries make knowledge and space available for the masses, they become the epitome of community spirit. One essential function of the modern library is to give access to media that will help people interpret and understand the world in which we live. For this reason, it is important to maintain the idea of the library as a place that represents democratic values, while offering a publicly available and social platform on which to act.

The Library as the Third PIace

Libraries play an important role in society because they function as social hubs and urban meeting places. Consequently, when designing libraries, the architect holds, through the organization of space, a unique opportunity to improve and create new ways for people to interact.

The theory of the ‘Third Place’ can explain why libraries are connected with this idea of social hubs. The concept was coined in 1989 by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg, in his book The Great Good Place, in which a number of locations, outside of people’s homes and workplaces, are analysed. From a theoretical perspective, the concept refers to informal places where people meet, in a community or neighbourhood, in order to build friendships, to discuss different subjects and to network. Third Places are valuable because they create space for human interaction, instilling the feeling of belonging and community, which can also be a source of pride. Moreover, Oldenburg finds that Third Places promote sociability while fighting isolation, because they make room for friendships and relaxation after a long day’s work. In this way, Third Places become neutral ground – the intersection between the public and private spheres – where demands and obligations associated with work and family life are precluded. The library, as a positive example, offers an open and casual space between home and work.

Library architecture that expresses openness, accessibility and inclusiveness, connects to the ideas of the theory of the Third Place in interesting ways, as a space fulfilling defined and undefined needs. The library provides room for both formal and informal activities; on one hand, the specific physical environment attached to the library’s functions and services, and, on the other, space for relaxing and interacting.

Designing the Modern Library

Today’s digital and transformative society calls for access to relevant knowledge, fast. Therefore, the library of the future must meet users’ expectations of twentyfour-hour access to knowledge. At the same time, the Internet and new media are challenging the position of the printed book, because they make for flexible alternatives, potentially changing users’ expectations and behaviour. However, contrary to concerns that libraries might become redundant, their role and influence is likely to expand as the need for new adaptable and accessible learning spaces increases.

The library serves its audience through the functionality and comfort of the interior environment – and yet it must aspire to an architectural identity of its own. Many aspects should be taken into consideration during the design phase of a library. If we are to aspire to design library architecture that will appear accessible, inclusive and open, the best way to achieve this is to ensure that the design process itself opens up and adapts to new ideas – for instance, by inviting user-groups to join in.

Dialogue and interaction with the future users of the building is a challenging but very valuable development tool for the architect – and the participatory process of user-driven design innovation can be integrated into the process at the earliest stage, to great advantage. The professional librarian, students, visitors, and surrounding community in general, can contribute with rewarding ideas, input, and, most of all, specific knowledge. Moreover, this process creates an important sense of commitment and ownership.

User perspectives bring insight into work processes, work functions, work relations, visitor behaviour, service expectations, information requests – all of which outline the needs and priorities of future users and staff. The user-groups can be asked to relate to specific issues – the site, geometry and interior – and provide the design team with as much relevant information as possible.

Not only will user involvement in the design process stimulate and develop ownership and affiliation in the public at large, but the library architecture, when completed, will also communicate recognisable values for the institution, the city and the surrounding community.

Sense of PIace

Most of us have been to a library, and we all have our own opinion on the library as institution and as place. The library as place is associated with different impressions retained by our senses – acoustics, silence, the scent of books, illumination, losing track of time. The library is ancient, it is iconic, but it is also a known place, an open institution, situated in the town in which you live, at the school or university where you study, or in the building you pass on your way to work. I like to refer to the characteristic atmosphere of the library as a ‘Sense of Place’.

When places have been given a stronger meaning or definition by society, they are said to have a strong ‘Sense of Place’. Designing modern multifunctional libraries is all about creating unique places with a strong identity and character, connecting to the user’s defined and undefined needs; places that foster a sense of authentic attachment and belonging.

Architecture is closely connected to the experience of Sense of Place, and will change by degrees. In contemporary and future society, the library as institution will indisputably play a rising and significant role. The library will continuously be a unique space for learning, sharing, and interacting, as well as a haven for immersion and inspiration. I cannot imagine a time where such a place will ever be expendable. (– published by ROADS 2013. )