PROJECT NO.

UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
(MTU)
CASE STUDY
 TAIPEI
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
L I AO A RC H I T EC T & A S S O C I AT ES

MIN HTAIK KYAW 2

 TAIPEI UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Project Info

Architects: LIAO Architect & Associates

Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Architect in Charge: Liao, Kuo-Cheng
Area: 20309.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Type: Library
Photographs: Xiao Xiong Liang Yan photography

MIN HTAIK KYAW 3

4
 The main concept of National Taipei
University Library is creating interaction amongst
different characters within the space
– human, book, media, architecture, and
environment.
We believe that these interactions allow
people to gain more knowledge than we imagine.
We expect the library as an open building where
students are able to easily access all the
information and spaces, also actively share their
knowledge and experience through a well-designed
site plan.

MIN HTAIK KYAW 55

 Instead of building a huge concrete architecture, we decided to slice it into three parts with organized
entrances of each.
The axis was inserted to the program which links the main entrance to the lake at the back, and the concept
of urban street was applied to create a plan of activity mall in the library.

Add a Footer 66
Add a Footer 77
 We opened up the library to the site
condition
through a floating bridge
connecting separated
structure that students can
experience the
nature from a relatively different
perspective.

MIN HTAIK KYAW 88

 For the exterior design, we like to create a signature which relates to the library itself – book.
So we turned the actions of people taking the book out of the shelf and literally opening a book into
the gentle curves with soft texture as the facade of the building.
Its design combining with windows also brings plenty of diagonal nature daylight into the library that
it creates the romantic atmosphere within the space for people to indulge in.

MIN HTAIK KYAW 99

Add a Footer 10
10
MIN HTAIK KYAW 11
11
Add a Footer 12
12
Add a Footer 13
13
Add a Footer 14
14
Add a Footer 15
15
Add a Footer 16
16
Add a Footer 17
17
Add a Footer 18
18
Add a Footer 19
19
Add a Footer 20
20
Add a Footer 21
21
Add a Footer 22
22
Add a Footer 23
23
Add a Footer 24
24
Add a Footer 25
25
 FREE
UNIVERSITY
PHILOLOGY
LIBRARY
F O S T E R A N D PA RT N E RS

Add a Footer 26
 FREE UNIVERSITY
PHILOLOGY LIBRARY
PROJECT INFO
Architects: Norman Foster & Partners

Location: Thielallee 44, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Project Year: 1997- 2005

Architects in Charge: Norman Foster, David Nelson, Stefan Behling,

Christian Hallmann, Ulrich Hamann, Ingo Pott

Client: Freie Universität Berlin

Engineer: Schmidt Reuter, PIN Ingenieure, IFFT Karlotto Schott

Structural Engineer: Pichler Ingenieure

Design Team: Bettina Bauer, Stefan Baumgart, Florian Boxberg,

Mark Braun, Niels Brockenhuus-Schack, Andre Heukamp, Stanley

Fuls, Ulrich Goertz, Wendelin Hinsch, Andreas Medinger, Jan Roth,

Diana Schaffrannek, David Schröder, Mark Sutcliffe, Hugh

Whitehead

MIN HTAIK KYAW 27

 FREE UNIVERSITY
PHILOLOGY LIBRARY
The new library of the Department of
Philology works as a central library to the
Free University which houses the entire
collection of 11 separate buildings containing
nearly 700,000 books.

It also restores the old campus and

interconnects six different courtyards of the
University.

MIN HTAIK KYAW 28

 A double layered canopy wraps all the five
floors of the building in a cranial form which
already became famous as
the “Berlin Brain”.
The idea of this blob-shaped lattice
developed much earlier when the architect
Norman Foster worked with Buckminster
Fuller on the project “Climatoffice”- a single
office which has a separately designed
microclimate.

Add a Footer 29
29
 Light metal, aluminum panels and double
glazed operable ventilation elements embody
the outer shell of the “brain”, covering 40% of
the shell area.
The inner membrane includes translucent fiber
glasses which filter the daylight to enhance
concentration.
Within these layers there lay 8% of selectively
placed transparent openings to permit some
sun rays and to catch a little portion of the sky.

Add a Footer 30
30
 Architect Norman Foster explains his design as,

“An inner membrane of translucent glass fiber filters sunlight and

creates an atmosphere of concentration, while scattered window

opening creates changing patterns of light and shade, with a

momentary view of sunlight and glimpses of the sky”.

Add a Footer 31
31
Add a Footer 32
32
 The edges of the floors swell or recede with respect to the floor above or beneath it.
The series of undulating curves and spacious double-height mezzanines generate a sequence of well-lit spaces.

Add a Footer 33
33
The center of each floor accommodates the book shelves and the serpentine perimeter is wrapped by curvilinear
reading desks.

The core is made of

concrete to house the water
pipes used for radiant
heating and cooling.
Tables are assigned within
easy reach in the central
hall with a special
consideration for visually
impaired people.

Add a Footer 34
34
Add a Footer 35
35
GROUND FLOOR PLAN 36
36
FIRST FLOOR PLAN 37
37
SECOND FLOOR PLAN 38
38
THIRD FLOOR PLAN 39
39
FOURTH FLOOR PLAN 40
40
ROOF PLAN 41
41
Four of the movement-driven floors are supported with tubular steel frames with radial geometry while the other
one goes underground.

SECTION 42
42
 The shelves and carpets are colored in grey to articulate the image of grey matter.
 All the desks include aluminum plugs and sockets while LAN access achieves flexible extension for the use of computers.
 Considered as one of the most ecologically sustainable building with advanced technologies.
 The building could work entirely under natural conditions with a little consumption of energy which makes it a
successful example of green technology.

Add a Footer 43
43
 David Nelson, the senior partner in charge,
noted:

“We realized that students would spend

hundreds of hours in the library and wanted to
provide them with the perfect environment to
study-one which was animated by natural light
and air”.

As recognition of this astonishing piece of

architecture associated by engineering
excellence, the design received multiple awards

 Renault Traffic Future Award 2007

 Deutsche Architekturpreis

 contract.world award

 Berlin Architecture Award

Add a Footer 44
45