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CENTRAL LIBRARY ROTTERDAM

VAN DEN BROEK & BAKEMA, 1977-1983, Hoogstraat 110, Rotterdam

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
Van den Broek & Bakema

PROJECT ARCHITECT:
Jaap Bakema
Hans Boot

:
Van Velzen Lafeber Bonneur

BUILDING TYPE:
Libraries


RELATED BUILDINGS:
Library Erasmus (Erasmus University College)

Rotterdam's Central Library boasts some 400,000 books spread among six stepped levels reached by escalators in a void below a cascade of glass.The whole is dominated by the exuberant use of 45 angles in plan and elevation. A core contains lifts and storage space; staff and administration areas are assembled in a rectangular block. The design further includes a newspaper reading-room, a café, a small theatre and an information centre. The interior is regularly modified to meet changing user needs. In 2002-2004 the ground floor was radically recast and the upper storeys reorganized.