Sumitted By

Yoon Myat Bo Bo
V. B.Arch-22
 Architects: Sou Fujimoto

 Area: 2883.18 m²

 Year: 2010
 Situated around the library, large-scale numeric
 Location: Kodaira (Tokyo), Japan installations created by graphic designer Taku Satoh
signal each subject category and aid orientation
» The Musashino Art University Museum & Library proposes a new

relation between the user and the books, surrounded and sheltered by
them.
» This is a new library for a
highly distinguished art
universities in Japan.

» Designing a new library

building

» Refurbishing the existing

building into an art gallery,
which will ultimately create a
new integration of the Library
and the Art Gallery.
» A total of 200,000 units,

» 100,000 will be in an open-

archive,

» The other half, within a closed-

archive, rests within this

double-storey library of 6,500㎡
in floor area.

» It is a library made from

bookshelves.

 Conceptual sketch of spiral book wall

 Concept

» The domain encased within the infinite spiral itself is the library.

» An infinite forest of books is created from the layering of 9m high walls,

punctuated by large apertures.

» This spiral sequence of the bookshelf continues, eventually wrapping

the periphery of the site as the external wall to allow the external
appearance of the building to share the same elemental composition of
the bookshelf as the library.
» One’s encounter with the colossally long bookshelf, within the university

landscape, registers instantaneously as a library, yet astonishing in its

dreamlike simplicity. It is the library most library-like and the simplest
library.
 The 6,500 square-meter library is based on a spiral of wooden

bookshelves.

 Plan, for Japanese architects, plays an crucial role because of the lack

of space.

 Building construction is a matter of plan and methodology, as well as

methodology is linked with plan.

 Smaller or larger is the building, the plan will remain important.

 Before opting for the spiral of wooden bookshelves, Fujimoto began

to think of an organization by dispersing books varied in size.

 Despite this interesting proposition, some issues raised concerning

the navigation and the entrance.

 The client wanted a linear and fluid circulation between categories.

 The organization based on a spiral of wooden bookshelves appears

to be more appropriate for a fluid and linear circulation within the

building.

 The entrance situated at the north-east corner has been solved too.

 A subsidiary entrance will be used in the case of a complete main

entrance.
 The exterior cladding is based on glass screen, a 19mm float glass with

tinted film which encapsulates the external red cedar skin.

 Large apertures connect the new library to its surroundings, essentially

composed of cherry blossom trees that line large avenue.

 The image of these trees reflects on the façade.

 This strategy of reflection of the image of these cherry blossom trees on

the façade constitutes a strategy for a place pleasing for the users.
 Basement Plan
 Section
 19mm float glass encapsulates the external  The spiral plan uncoils to create interstitial spaces
red cedar envelope that frame the library entrance
 From the grand stair, Fujimoto’s ‘forest of  Axial views through the book stacks improve
books’ uses large apertures to connect with orientation and allow readers to take meandering
the cherry blossom trees that line the campus routes
avenues
 The entrance foyer/magazine area leads directly  Suspended bridges hang above the
to the grand stair entrance space, leading to additional study
bays