Nieuwbouw bibliotheek Birmingham – grootste van Europa – ontwerp Mecanoo architecten
DESIGN NEW LIBRARY FOR BIRMINGHAM UNVEILED
“A highly transparent glass building wrapped in a delicate metal filigree”
Francine Houben, Mecanoo architecten, presenteerde op 2 april 2009 het ontwerp voor de nieuwe openbare bibliotheek van Birmingham (foto Birmingham Post).
Het Nederlandse architectenburo won in augustus 2008 de competitie voor de nieuwbouw van deze bibliotheek, die met haar 31.000 m2 de grootste van Europa wordt. De investeringskosten bedragen ca. 193 miljoen pond. In 2013 zal de bibliotheek haar deuren openen.
Het gebouw komt op een prominente locatie aan het Centenary Square in het centrum van Birmingham.
Door de samenvoeging van de drukst bezochte bibliotheek van Europa met het Birmingham Repertory Theatre – er komt een gezamenlijke entree – krijgt de stad een cultureel centrum met state-of-the-art voorzieningen.
- Birmingham City Council.
Library of Birmingham launch video
- Birmingham Library Service: Facts and Figures
1. There are currently over 500,000 members of Birmingham’s libraries, with more than 220,000 members actively using their tickets
2. Over 4 million people visit Birmingham Libraries each year.
3. Almost 5 million books are issued each year
4. 500,000 DVDs, CDs and talking books are issued
5. Birmingham Central Library has over 5 million items in its wide and varying archive collections
6. The largest book in the Central Library is Birds of America, 1827 – 1838, 99.06cm x 66.04cm unopened, by John James Audubon.
7. The smallest book in the Central Library is The Bijou Series, a set of miniature books printed about 1850; 2.54 cm (1 inch high)
8. The oldest book in the Central Library is Catholicon by Joannes Balbus, Printed in Augsberg, Germany by Guntherus Zainer 1469
9. The heaviest book in the Central Library is Investigations and Studies in Jade; the Heber R. Bishop Collection, two volumes, 1906. The two volumes weigh 125Ibs.
10. The oldest book printed in England in Central Library is Cordiale or Four Last Thinges Printed by William Caxton 1479.
11. The oldest manuscript in the Central Library is Condition of a grant from Leouca, Lady of Elleford (Ellford, Staffs) to the monks at Mirau (Merevale, Warks) of the mill of Elford about 1140 A.D.
