Jounieh Public Library - Nadine Bou Kheir

As the things on the street happened as I watched people go by, buildings merge together with a simple, historic spirit, and as the I gased over the remaining entrance intact after the invasion of bulks of concrete, the geometry came through.

The geometry consists of horizontal and vertical boxes bleeding into one another. The entrance is the heart of each and every old house on the main street that is why it is accentuated in the new library. Also, for more space during the summer exhibitions, I recessed the lower level to make room for outdoor space, differentiating the upper level from the lower one floating over.

Entrance and Cantilever

The circulation is articulated to the facade without it revealing its function to the outside. the reading area is pushed higher than the structure and creates a floating box. To allow for this floating area, the courtyard on the second floor of the original structure is maintained.

Courtyard and Floating Box

On the Inside the structure is divided into 4 floor, three of which share the two boxes on the land, allowing for a variety of voids and a different plan for each floor. I started by a spacious, double height lobby behind which stands the cafe which opens to a reading area for newspapers and magasines. The first floor is a children's area amidst the outdoor space, computer area, and adult waiting/reading area. The second floor is the auditiorium and administration also opening to the outdoor space. The last floor is the floating cube that allows for a corridor flushed with books reaching a reading area only open to the sea.

The openings benefit from the void to enlighten more than one floor. We can also notice the decrease in crowdiness and noise as we move into the library and go higher. I tried to incorporate reading into every floor making the library rotate mainly around silence, awareness of the surrounded by the senses, and most importantly unique, reading experiences. The landscape is in harmony with the simplistic spirit of the library allowing for cubes of 50x50 cm of slightly varieting heights(20-40 cm) distiributed far from each others on the shore.

One of the Study Models