https://thomasguignard.photo/libraries
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Until 1906, the only library at Jesus College was a dedicated room inside the 16th century “New college”. Its collection of medieval manuscripts was of high interest to researchers but of little use to students, who were all expected to own their own copies of study texts. As new subjects started being offered, the need for a library for students became evident in the early 20th century. At first, the student library occupied a set of rooms in one of the Courts, until in 1952 the War Memorial…
The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna (Universität für Bodenkultur BOKU) was established in 1872. First installed at Schönborn palace, the school moved in 1896 to a dedicated building designed by Alois Koch on a hillside northwest of the city centre. Additional buildings were added or purchased over time, gradually turning the leafy neighbourhood into “Vienna’s greenest campus”. BOKU’s Wilhelm Exnerhaus was once the hospital of Vienna’s merchants corporation. One such…
The Humanities 1 building (BFSH 1, later renamed Internef) was the third to be built on the University of Lausanne’s new Dorigny campus between 1973 and 1977. Its architects Frédéric Brugger, with Edouard Catella and Erich Hauenstein were following the campus master plan established in 1967 by Guido Cocchi, which mandated a coherent grid for dimensioning spaces and floor heights and the use of glass and anodized aluminum for all facades. The main body of the building follows these indications…
Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy in 2012, original design by Gauthier, Guité, Roy. Image credit: Aquastephie, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons The first central library of the Québec City public library network was built in 1983 by Paul Gauthier, Gilles Guité and Jean-Marie Roy. It was the first library to benefit from a provincial subsidy covering 50% of construction costs, part of the ambitious “Plan Vaugeois”, an initiative to help francophone Québec libraries catch up to the rest of the world…
The former Customs and Finance Directorate building in Vienna was built by Alois Schumacher in 1895-1901 as part of the second Ring development. Its wedge shape tapers towards the banks of the river Wien, where it ends in a handsome narrow facade with a portico of Corinthian half-columns. The library of the Vienna University of Applied Arts sits on top of a new build that fills the shell of the former finance directorate building. Immediately under the roof, the library is lit both by side and…
The Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt in Vienna, nowadays known simply as “die Graphische“, was originally established in 1888 as a teaching and research institute dedicated to photography. It later expanded its activities to book-printing and other graphic production processes, and was the first art and design school in Europe to combine research with vocational activities. The shed roof brings in indirect overhead sunlight, perfect for lighting work surfaces. Originally located in a city…
The facade of the Humanist Library in Sélestat is decorated with a mosaic by César Winterhalter. The origins of the Sélestat Humanist Library can be traced to the parish library established in 1452 by a gift from rector Johannes von Westhuss. Collections grew steadily thanks to further bequests by former pupils of the town’s famed Latin school. One such alumnus was the humanist writer and publisher Beatus Rhenanus, who upon his death in 1547 gave his considerable collection to his native town.…
At the centre of North America's busiest public library system, the Toronto Reference Library is one of the city's most prized cultural assets.
A prime example of Collegiate Gothic of the early 20th century, Toronto's Knox College is a favourite of students and film directors.
Completed in 1935, the Art Déco Toulouse research library is a rare example of libraries built in France during the interwar period.
Completed on the eve of the First World War, the university library of Innsbruck first served as a military hospital before it could open.
One of the world's most recognizable museums, Paris' Centre Pompidou is also home to the largest public library in the city.
From ore to lore: this former iron mill in Finland's old capital is now the arts faculty library.
A nice example of Finnish modernism, this library was originally part of a larger urban project by architect Aarne Ervi.
The home of one of the world's foremost botanical collections, this library is also a landmark of Swiss modernist architecture.
For over 150 years, the library that saw the birth of higher education in Vienna laid all but forgotten, ending up as a table tennis court for policemen. A spectacular renovation brought it back to life.
The visual complexity of the Vaud cantonal archives building reflects its internal organization.
