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Opus 70Gunnar Birkerts, National Library of Latvia, RigaWith an essay by Janis Dripe and photographs by Indrikis Sturma-nis. 60 pp. with ca. 70 illus., 280 x 300 mm, hard-cover, EnglishISBN 978-3-932565-70-0Euro 36.00, £ 29.00, US $ 49.00, $A 68.00
The building of the National Library of Latvia is a landmark of thecapital city of Riga, a spatial symbol and architectural icon, createdby one of the 20th-century-renowned modernists – the Latvian-bornAmerican architect Gunnar Birkerts. His metaphorically saturatedand expressionist architecture has established its permanent placein the history of contemporary architecture. The unique creative styleof Birkerts stems from his deep cultural roots in Latvia, his architec-tural studies in Germany after World War II and the first years ofarchitectural practice in the USA learning from the Finnish architectEero Saarinen and the Japanese architect Minoru Yamasaki.
Birkerts was invited to Latvia to design the National Library asearly as in 1988. Three years later, Latvia restored its independenceand the formation of a new state delayed accomplishment of Bir-kerts’ ambitious idea for 25 years. The idea, the design and tech-nology changed as changed the times becoming a symbol of anew and free state. Thanks to its content and concurrent process-es for reestablishment of the national state the building acquired asymbolic and meaningful name: the »Castle of Light«. In 1999, theidea for construction of the National Library of Latvia received theofficial UNESCO patronage and support, the design and construc-tion of the building have been evaluated by a panel of prominentUNESCO experts.
The pyramidal structure, which rises 68 meters high, is a placeof cognition equipped with state-of-the-art technology where up to8 million units of national printed materials can be stored. It hasbeen the most significant investment in cultural infrastructure sincethe establishment of the Latvian state and is one of the largest cul-tural buildings in Northern Europe in the 21st century. The librarycan serve simultaneously 1,000 visitors. A 400-seat concert hall /auditorium and transformable meeting rooms of various sizes aresuitable venues for conferences, congresses and concerts. Takingadvantage of modern technology, the National Library of Latvia andnearly 900 other libraries in Latvia are interlinked within the Networkof Light – a single network of digital resources available on the inter-net throughout the country which was set up with the support fromthe Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Janis Dripe studied architecture at Riga Technical University.From 1990 to 1996 he taught at the faculty of architecture of RigaTechnical University. From 1993 to 1995 he was minister of cultureand from 1996 to 2006 the ambassador of Latvia in Sweden. Untilrecently he was chief architect of the city of Riga. Indrikis Sturma-nis has been a leading Latvian architectural photographer sincethe 1970s. He started his career as a press photographer and thenturned to his present field of action.
The building of the National Library of Latvia is a land-mark of the city of Riga, a spatial symbol and architec-tural icon, created by one of the 20th-century-renownedmodernists – the Latvian-born American architect Gun-nar Birkerts. His metaphorically saturated and expres-sionist architecture has established its permanent placein the history of contemporary architecture. The uniquecreative style of Birkerts stems from his deep culturalroots in Latvia, his architectural studies in Germany afterWorld War II and the first years of architectural practicein the USA learning from Eero Saarinen and Minoru Ya-masaki.
Birkerts was invited to Latvia to design the NationalLibrary as early as in 1988. Three years later, Latvia re-stored its independence and the formation of a newstate delayed accomplishment of Birkerts’ ambitiousidea for 25 years. The idea, the design and technologychanged as changed the times becoming a symbol ofa new and free state. Thanks to its content and concur-rent processes for reestablishment of the national statethe building acquired a symbolic and meaningful name:the »Castle of Light«. In 1999, the idea for constructionof the library received the official UNESCO patronageand support, the design and construction of the buildinghave been evaluated by a panel of prominent UNESCOexperts.
The pyramidal structure, which rises 68 m high, is aplace of cognition equipped with state-of-the-art tech-nology where up to 8 million units of national printedmaterials can be stored. It has been the most significantinvestment in cultural infrastructure since the establish-ment of the Latvian state and is one of the largest cultur-al buildings in Northern Europe in the 21st century. Thelibrary can serve simultaneously 1,000 visitors. A 400-seat concert hall / auditorium and transformable meetingrooms of various sizes are suitable venues for confer-ences, congresses and concerts. Taking advantage ofmodern technology, the National Library of Latvia andnearly 900 other libraries in Latvia are interlinked with-in the Network of Light – a single network of digital re-sources available on the internet throughout the countrywhich was set up with the support from the Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation.
Jānis Dripe studied architecture at Riga Technical University, where he also taught from 1990 to 1996.From 1993 to 1995 he was minister of culture of hishome country, from 1996 to 2006 the ambassador ofLatvia in Sweden and from 2002 to 2004 in the sameposition in the United in Kingdom. From 2006 to 2011 he was chief architect of the city of Riga. Indriķis Stūr-manis has been a leading Latvian architectural photog-rapher since the 1970s. He started his career as a pressphotographer and then turned to his present field of action.
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Gunnar BirkertsNational Library of Latvia
Riga
Opus Architektur in EinzeldarstellungenArchitecture in individual presentations
Herausgeber / Editor: Axel Menges
1 Rudolf Steiner, Goetheanum, Dornach2 Jørn Utzon, Houses in Fredensborg3 Jørgen Bo and Vilhelm Wohlert, Louisiana
Museum, Humlebæk4 Aurelio Galfetti, Castelgrande, Bellinzona5 Fatehpur Sikri6 Balthasar Neumann, Abteikirche Neresheim7 Henry Hobson Richardson, Glessner House,
Chicago8 Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Palau de la Música
Catalana, Barcelona9 Richard Meier, Stadthaus Ulm
10 Santiago Calatrava, Bahnhof Stadelhofen, Zürich
12 Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Charlottenhof , Potsdam-Sanssouci
13 Pfaueninsel, Berlin14 Sir John Soane’s Museum, London15 Enric Miralles, C.N.A.R., Alicante16 Fundación César Manrique, Lanzarote17 Dharna Vihara, Ranakpur18 Benjamin Baker, Forth Bridge19 Ernst Gisel, Rathaus Fellbach20 Alfredo Arribas, Marugame Hirai Museum21 Sir Norman Foster and Partners, Commerz-
bank, Frankfurt am Main22 Carlo Scarpa, Museo Canoviano, Possagno23 Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Oak Park24 Kisho Kurokawa, Kuala Lumpur International
Airport25 Steidle + Partner, Universität Ulm West26 Himeji Castle27 Kazuo Shinohara, Centennial Hall, Tokyo28 Alte Völklinger Hütte29 Alsfeld30 LOG ID, BGW Dresden31 Steidle + Partner, Wacker-Haus, München32 Frank O. Gehry, Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa33 Neuschwanstein34 Architekten Schweger+Partner, Zentrum für
Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe35 Frank O. Gehry, Energie-Forum-Innovation,
Bad Oeynhausen36 Rafael Moneo, Audrey Jones Beck Building,
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston37 Schneider+Schumacher, KPMG-Gebäude,
Leipzig38 Heinz Tesar, Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg39 Arup, Hong Kong Station40 Berger+Parkkinen, Die Botschaften der Nor-
dischen Länder, Berlin41 Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, Halle 3, Messe
Frankfurt42 Heinz Tesar, Christus Hoffnung der Welt, Wien43 Peichl /Achatz / Schumer, Münchner Kammer-
spiele, Neues Haus44 Alfredo Arribas, Seat-Pavillon, Wolfsburg45 Stüler / Strack / Merz, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin46 Kisho Kurokawa, Oita Stadium, Oita, Japan47 Bolles + Wilson, Nieuwe Luxor Theater, Rotterdam
48 Steidle + Partner, KPMG-Gebäude, München49 Steidle + Partner, Wohnquartier Freischützstraße,
München50 Neufert / Karle + Buxbaum, Ernst-Neufert-Bau,
Darmstadt51 Bolles + Wilson, NORD/LB, Magdeburg52 Brunnert und Partner, Flughafen Leipzig / Halle53 Johannes Peter Hölzinger, Haus in Bad Nauheim54 Egon Eiermann, German Embassy, Washington55 Peter Kulka, Bosch-Haus Heidehof, Stuttgart56 Am Bavariapark, München57 Gerber Architekten, Messe Karlsruhe58 Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux59 Otto Ernst Schweizer, Milchhof, Nürnberg60 Steidle + Partner, Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Bremer-
haven61 Sonwik, Flensburg62 Egon Eiermann / Sep Ruf, Deutsche Pavillons,
Brüssel 195863 Ernst von Ihne / Heinz Tesar, Bode-Museum,
Berlin64 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, International Terminal,
San Francisco International Airport65 Le Corbusier, Unité d’habitation, Marseille66 Coop Himmelb(l)au, BMW-Welt, München67 Bruno Paul, Haus Friedwart, Wetzlar68 Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus, Stuttgart69 Rathaus Bremen70 Gunnar Birkerts, National Library of Latvia, Riga71 Ram Karmi, Ada Karmi-Melamede, Supreme
Court of Israel, Jerusalem72 Sep Ruf, Kanzlerbungalow, Bonn73 Otto Ernst Schweizer, Kollegiengebäude II
der Universität Freiburg74 Dietrich DietrichTafel, Max-Planck-Institut für
Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin75 Otto Ernst Schweizer, Stadion Wien76 Fritz Barth, Cannstatter Straße 84, Fellbach77 Ferdinand Kramer / SSP SchürmannSpannel,
BiK-F, Frankfurt am Main78 Ivano Gianola, LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura,
Lugano
9 7 8 3 9 3 2 5 6 5 7 0 0
5 4 9 0 0ISBN 978-3-932565-70-0
036.00 Euro029.00 £049.00 US $068.00 $A
1. Jacket 8_1. Jacket 09.02.15 12:52 Seite 1
Gunnar BirkertsNational Library of Latvia
Riga
TextJānis Dripe
PhotographsIndriķis Stūrmanis
Edition Axel Menges
Edition Axel Menges and the authors would like tothank the Latvian National Library Foundation for theirhelp and cooperation in preparing this publication.They would also like to thank the Ministry of Culture of Latvia, the National Library of Latvia, and Hill Inter-national for their support.
Contents
Jānis Dripe: Gunnar Birkerts, National Library of Latvia, RigaPortfolio of other works by Gunnar Birkerts
Aerial view with the new library in its contextSite planFloor plansSections
Exterior views of the buildingCentral lobbyRestaurantAuditorium / concert hallAtriumStairs BookshelvesReading areasUnder the skylightTwo-level top
Credits
Editor: Axel Menges
© 2015 Edition Axel Menges, Stuttgart / LondonISBN 978-3-932565-70-0
All rights reserved, especially those of translation into other languages.
Printing and binding: Graspo CZ, a. s., Zlín, Czech Republic
Translation into English: Inta LiepiņaDesign: Axel Menges
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Jānis DripeGunnar Birkerts, National Library of Latvia,Riga
History of the design development
To understand the whole complexity of the project ofthe National Library of Latvia and why it took so longfor the new building of the National Library to be built,we need to take a step back and look at the entiregeopolitical context and developments in the history ofLatvia. The idea of its construction was conceived al-ready before WWII in the independent State of Latvia;it was cherished all through the Soviet period and thenanother 23 years in the re-established independentState of Latvia. The dream of a new building could notcome true for nearly a century because of changingpolitical powers, indecisiveness of politicians and offi-cials, lack of funds and lack of an appropriate design.During this period of uncertainty, the location and thename of the National Library changed several timesreflecting the changes of the ruling power in Latvia.
Soon after the proclamation of Latvia (1918) andfoundation of the State Library in 1919, it became clearthat a new building would be necessary for this impor-tant function. Jānis Misiņš, the first director of the Li-brary, had no option but to use cramped spaces in theold town of Riga where the reading room could admitonly 40 people. The basis of the State Library wasformed by a collection of books from the library of theformer Russian Theological Seminary. Already in 1921,the State Library moved to another building previouslyoccupied by the Ministry of Education in the historiccentre of Riga at Pils laukums 2. The same year an im-portant law for the State Library was passed making itcompulsory to send each copy of printed material tothe library. As early as in 1928 the first serious publicdebate started about the necessity to store all booksand facilities of the Latvian State Library in a new sepa-rate building because until then and a long time after-wards the library was scattered in several buildingsadapted for its needs in Old Riga. Issue No 2 of Ilustrē-tais žurnāls (Illustrated Magazine) in 1928 stated: »TheCabinet of Ministers has brought forward the idea ofbuilding a large edifice for accommodation of the stateand university library as well as other functions in orderto commemorate the 10th anniversary of the LatvianState. The Budgetary Committee of the Saeima (Par-liament) has decided to allocate 200,000 lats in thisyear’s State budget for the necessary preparatoryworks, provided that only 10,000 lats can be used forthe elaboration of the design«. Despite the efforts ofMārtiņš Stumbergs, the second director of the StateLibrary, who was in charge for 20 years (1920–40),apart from negotiations and non-binding resolutionsadopted by senior officials nothing much came out ofit. At that time, the priority was given to constructionof the Monument to Freedom and the building of theCourt of Justice and the Ministry of Finance. In 1940,two more buildings in Old Riga, i.e. at Jēkaba iela 6/8and Anglikāņu iela 5, were provided to the State Li-brary. They housed the sections of the Library up to2014 when the new building was completed.
In 1944, the political regime changed again, and theLatvian State Library became the State Library of theLatvian SSR. In 1948, there was still hope that a newlibrary building would be built on the site where once
stood the Town Hall that was partly destroyed duringthe war. If a political decision made in Moscow to blowup the rest of the House of Blackheads, a great archi-tectural and cultural monument, on Town Hall Squarein Riga was implemented, then despite the active par-ticipation of the library employees in removal of WWIIdebris, the promise to build there a new library did notmaterialize. In fact, the master plan developed by ar-chitects Edgars Pučiņš and Jevgēņijs Vasiļjevs intend-ed to extend significantly the historic Kaļķu iela and tocreate a new city square instead of Town Hall Square.On the new city square an area was set aside also forthe building of the State Library.
After Pils laukums (then already Pionieru laukums) 2the main section of the Library was once again relo-cated in 1956 to Kr. Barona iela 14 where the formerHouse of Credit and Savings Association used to belocated, and part of the Library sections moved to Kr.Barona iela 3. These buildings were located outside theboundaries of the medieval old town of Riga and thecity canal with its green belt of parks established in theplace of Riga’s fortifications that were razed between1854 and 1856.
Interestingly, for the site where the National Library ofLatvia is currently located, in 1961 a competition washeld for construction of a design institute. The competi-tion was won by Marta Staņa, a well-known Soviet mod-ernist architect. She proposed to construct a laconic 14-storey parallelepiped designed in a modernist style withits narrow façade facing the River Daugava.
The next event was related to the state of affairscharacteristic of a Soviet regime, namely, in 1971 thename of Vilis Lācis, who was a popular writer andchaired the government of the Soviet Latvia, wasadded to the State Library of the Latvian SSR.
In the 1960s, the idea of constructing a new librarybuilding re-emerged and in 1966 three possible siteswere analyzed, including the current location of theNational Library on the left riverbank of the Daugava,in Klīversala. According to the zoning in Riga’s masterplan, this city block belonged to the city centre, andthus the monumental edifice of the National Libraryalong with the hotel and office building erected nearbywould have formed the central compositional elementof the new development on the left riverbank of theDaugava. It has always been crucial for the buildingof the National Library to be located in the city centrewhere it would be accessible for pedestrians and bypublic transport.
Another oddity of the Soviet period was the fact thatthe Republic of Latvia could not make the final decisionitself when such large objects were concerned. A setprocedure required for such important buildings to bedesigned in institutes in Moscow or Leningrad special-izing in the particular area. In 1973, the Central Institutefor Scientific Research and Experimental Design of En-tertainment Buildings and Sports Facilities (architectsStuzhin and Pashchenko) elaborated a technical de-sign for the Library that, miraculously, was rejected inRiga. Already in 1975 the Soviet government of Latviacommissioned a sketch of the Library building fromthe institute Pilsētprojekts (then Latgiprogorstroj). Themanagement of the institute entrusted the leading Lat-vian architect Modris Ģelzis (1929–2009) with elabora-tion of the design in partnership with Viktors Valgums(1948) and Normunds Pavārs (1944). Viktors Valgumswas the author of a spatial concept. When working
on the image of the Library, the architects focused ona skyline composition of the Pārdaugava area and onfunctional aspects of the building. A technologicalscheme of the Library consisted of a book depositoryrising 40 metres high and of reading rooms arrangedon four levels in the wing facing the River Daugava.
The USSR used this design for the Library buildingto spruce up its image. In Paris, in the autumn of 1977,at the exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, an elegantwooden model of the Library building was presentedand its architecture was highly acclaimed and appreci-ated by UNESCO. Unfortunately, the model was notreturned to Riga and the news of its success did notspread to Latvia. All the attempts of the leaders of theLatvian SSR to make the construction of the Librarypart of the USSR State Plan for Construction failed.The design itself was highly praised by fellow architectsand it has earned its place in the history of Latvia’s ar-chitecture.
In 1983, the building of the State Library at Jauniela26 in the historic centre of Riga was dispossessed andthe Library was again relocated to the premises of theformer fish cannery Kaija at Tērbatas (then Stučkas)iela 75. It only shows how low the prestige of the StateLibrary had been and how unwilling were the authori-ties to address this matter thoroughly.
At the end of the 1980s, articles about the deplor-able state of the Library premises started regularly ap-pearing in the Latvian press. Although there alreadywas the above mentioned design, in 1988 the govern-ment of the Latvian SSR decided to hold a competitionfor the best proposal for construction of the building ofthe Library of the Latvian SSR named after Vilis Lācis inRiga. The Awakening Movement gathered momentumand it was clear that the collapsing Soviet regime hadno funds for construction of cultural buildings. Thecompetition was a complete failure, namely, only fourcompetition entries were submitted.
At that time state officials failed to give a clear an-swer why the design, which was elaborated back in1977, was not implemented. I remember quite wellhow the competition that was a disaster was dis-cussed at the House of Architects at the Swedish Gateand how the idea to approach Gunnar Birkerts caughton. In 1988 it was a revolutionary idea in terms of or-ganisational, financial and ideological aspects. But Gu-nārs Asaris, the chief architect of Riga, was quick toact and at Christmas in 1988 he phoned Gunnar Bir-kerts with a request to elaborate a design for the Na-tional Library of Latvia (then it was still the Library ofthe Latvian SSR named after Vilis Lācis). Birkerts re-plied that it would be a great honour and responsibilityfor him. One of the most renowned Latvian architectsModris Ģelzis who was also the author of the afore-mentioned design for the Library building created in1977 was chosen to work as Birkerts’ partner in Lat-via.
Since 1989, Andris Vilks, director of the NationalLibrary, has been in charge of developing the projectconcept – now already for 25 years. The idea of a newbuilding of the National Library has been his mission,responsibility and life’s work.
In 1989, Gunnar Birkerts made the first sketch, andat this stage of design development it was the archi-tect’s present to his homeland. The unusual shape ofthe building surprised everyone in Latvia and at thesame time it evoked positive emotions. A metaphor, a
reference to the great Latvian poet Rainis, to Latvia’sscenery and folklore – such an interpretation was acomplete novelty.
In 1989, the attached title »Library of the LatvianSSR named after Vilis Lācis« was finally removed andit again became the State Library of Latvia. In 1991,the Latvian government decided that from then on theState Library of Latvia would bear the name of the Na-tional Library of Latvia and would be part of the inter-national network of national libraries. In 1990, the de-sign of the National Library was presented at the FirstBaltic-Nordic Architecture Triennial in Tallinn.
In 1995, the first sketch of the design was complet-ed intending to construct the building with the totalarea of 77,000 square metres. The same year it wasdecided to significantly reduce its size. Between 1996and 2000, the second version of the design was devel-oped aiming for the total area of 45,000 square me-tres. The process had been dragging on and the impa-tient public started expressing doubts about the ne-cessity of the National Library building. To reinforce theidea of the National Library, in 1989 the Latvian Nation-al Library Foundation was established, the intellectualelite of Latvia’s society started actively supporting con-struction of the Library, while the views of differentpoliticians greatly varied. The international acclaim forBirkerts’ design echoed also in Latvia and it provideda rare opportunity to use this building – a symbol – toraise awareness of our country. The real internationalsuccess was »Resolution for the Support to the Con-struction of the National Library of Latvia« adopted in1999 by the UNESCO General Assembly. Previously,only once UNESCO had expressed its support for con-struction of a particular library, i.e. for the Library ofAlexandria designed by Norwegian architects (Snohet-ta). In 2000, a special committee of UNESCO expertswas set up to supervise the designing and construc-tion of the National Library of Latvia. The third versionof the design, which was completed in 2002, is a resultof cooperation between the authors of the design andthe UNESCO experts. In 2002, Latvia for the first timeparticipated in the Venice Biennale of Architecture be-ing represented by Gunnar Birkerts’s design for theNational Library. That year the Bank of Latvia issued acommemorative coin dedicated to the National Libraryof Latvia.
In 2004, gradual clearance of the site began, houseswere removed and their residents compensated, andat the end of 2005, an agreement was reached withHill International, an international construction consult-ing firm, on development of the technical design andsupervision of construction works. On 20 June 2008,as a result of a joint effort of many people who hadkept the faith and worked hard for 20 years, the con-struction of the National Library building began. In2009 and 2010 Latvia was seriously affected by theglobal financial crisis, and construction works werecompleted only on 20 December 2013.
The opening ceremony marking Riga’s becomingthe European Capital of Culture 2014 was an emotion-al and unifying moment for the nation when on 18 Jan-uary book lovers created a 2014-metre long humanchain to transfer the first books from hand to handfrom the old premises to the new library building that isproudly called the Castle of Light. The official openingceremony of the National Library of Latvia was held onthe 95th anniversary of the Library on 29 August 2014.
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1. Riga, Brīvības bulvāris (Freedom Boulevard), 1998.(Photo: Rolf Reiner Maria Borchard.)2. Ernests Pole, former Riga Tradesmen’s Savings andLoan, Krišjāņa Barona iela 14, Riga, 1910. Since 1957 used by the National Library. (Photo: National Library of Latvia.)
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geometric tangle of roots, establishes functional linksand harmoniously relates to the architectural idiom ofthe building. The use of granite slabs and paving in alarge belt along the façade facing the Daugava makesthe surrounding area aesthetically appealing and sus-tainable and also sets a scene for various public eventsand adds an outdoor space to the Library’s restaurant.The geometric pattern becomes even more dynamicin the entrance area where granite slabs of contrast-ing shades have been used. Thus, it correlates directlywith the way how the entrance grows diagonally intothe linear structure of the building and into its function-al and simple layout.
Massing of the building
It took such a long time to build the National Librarythat it has become a subject of the legend. At variouspoints in time, we, in Latvia, have called the librarybuilding »a gigantic ship of books«, referring to its lo-cation on the riverbank of the Daugava, »a crystal pal-ace« due to the frailty of its glass walls, »the greatbookcase« and a »time capsule« referring to its capaci-ty for storage of eight million copies of printed materi-als. It has also been called »the mountain of glass«, al-luding to the insurmountable mountain of glass in thesymbol-laden play written by Jānis Rainis, the most fa-mous Latvian poet, and »the castle of light«, emphasis-ing the importance of its content and the opportunityto research and learn that it represents. Despite end-less discussions about the building and its shape, overthe entire 25-year period Birkerts never changed theconcept of its massing. Neither did he change hismodernist conviction in his 65-year-long career in ar-chitecture. The original motif of the mountain of glassborrowed from Rainis’ play persisted, and, as projectdevelopment continued, it naturally evolved into theconcept of »The Castle of Light« – and they both stemfrom content and form. It is, indeed, rare for so manynarrative elements to be tastefully amalgamated intoarchitecture. And this is one of those rare cases thathas also been highly acclaimed internationally sinceleading Italian, German, British and American journalsof architecture had published articles about the libraryproject even before the beginning of construction
works. This resulted in extensive forerunning interna-tional publicity and in appreciation and recognition ofthe Latvian state, its construction sector, culture andability. Referring to the launch of the book GunnarBirkerts: Metaphoric Modernist in 2009, architecturecritic Norman Weinstein published an article in theAchNewsNow newsletter and his comments prove thatthis project was not a mere presumption nurtured byLatvian provincialism. Weinstein concludes that theproject of the National Library is destined to promotethe little-known culture of Latvia beyond Europe andthat its subtle allusions to Latvian folklore will make thebuilding an object of architectural tourism. Weinsteinpredicts that Birkerts’ National Library of Latvia will beas positively provocative as the Seattle Central Librarydesigned by Koolhaas.
However, the attitude of Latvia’s society and politicalelite towards the idea of having a new building of theNational Library has been changeable over a period of25 years – short-term social programmes, national se-curity or teachers’ salaries are the issues that alwaysprevail over other concerns in a new country. Whatwas initially a nationwide unifying idea later was severe-ly criticised due to the relatively high construction costsof the building. For two decades Birkerts and advo-cates of the Library idea had to explain patiently whythe new building was necessary and why its imagewas so significant.
In this context, it is important what Gunnar Birkertshad to say in this regard: »Although it is possible to linkone culture with other ones by means of instant elec-tronic information exchange, the main task of the Li-brary is to store and preserve our cultural heritage. TheLibrary’s archives store our literature and historical doc-uments, our folklore – our DNA. It is a witness of thedestiny of our nation. The image of the building speaksout loud. The Library turns into a functional nationalsymbol.«
Large public buildings are often destined to becomesymbols of a city or a state. Public buildings also dem-onstrate power or superior ability. This phenomenonin its hypertrophied form can be seen in Astana, Baku,Dubai and elsewhere in the world, but it also has an-other dimension that is propelling technological ad-vancement in a reasonable and guiding way while al-so creating identity.
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Cityscape
Analysing the National Library within the urban con-text, it should be emphasized that the site where theLibrary stands today was chosen neither by organisersof previous competitions nor the author. Its location onthe left riverbank of the Daugava (formerly Klīversalaembankment) was determined already in 1968 andmarked in the Spatial Development Strategy for Riga.The site possessed such spatial qualities as the edificewith elaborate façades and accentuated corner de-signed by outstanding Latvian architect Eižens Laube,the house designed in an eclectic manner at Uzvarasbulvāris 2 and also a school building designed by Rein-hold Schmaeling, former City Architect of Riga, stand-ing slightly farther away on the corner of Uzvaras bul-vāris and Raņķa dambis. Could the building of the Na-tional Library have been contextual in the traditionalmeaning of this term? It seems not. The original ver-sion of the design with its extended programme estab-lished a dialogue with the urban environment throughthe massing where spaces of reading rooms and ad-ministrative offices were jutting out thus visually creat-ing a building of two different scales. After the reduc-tion of the planned size in 1995, the other variant, bycontrast, abandoned the idea of placing the buildingover Akmeņu iela and arranging its entrance towardsthe River Daugava in the centre of the linear structure.The laconic sculptural shape of the completed buildingis a free-standing structure whose footprint respectsthe principles of perimetre construction in the site plan,while its entrance facing Uzvaras bulvāris and AkmensBridge makes it appear more dynamic and establishesgood links with the main pedestrian and public trans-port flows.
Spatially, the building of the National Library is partof the urban ensemble on the left riverbank of the Dau-gava which consists of a high-rise area where a bankbuilding soaring 121 metres high and round twin tow-ers designed by architect Helmut Jahn stand outamong others, of clusters of wooden houses in Ķīpsa-la which form a low-rise built-up area, the office build-ing of the Diena newspaper and the Riga Plaza shop-ping centre with its ambitious scale and large façadessporting the blue-black-white tricolour of the Estonianflag. If the built-up area in the southern end of Ķīpsalaclearly forms a vertical accent, then the new building ofthe National Library stands out with its idiosyncrasy. Itmay claim to be a symbol and an urban landmark ofRiga and this claim is based on its function and loca-tion directly opposite Old Riga.
The concept and the spatial context
Dividing the city into two parts, the River Daugava isundoubtedly the main axis of Riga’s spatial composi-tion. The new building of the Library is a herald of anew direction of development of the city centre, andwhile being located close to the historic centre of Rigathat is inscribed on the World Heritage List, it is stillseparated from this territory where new architectureis bound by the context and strict restrictions to thescale by a stretch of water running half a kilometrewide. Thus, the building of the National Library is in aprivileged situation spatially and lawfully thanks to itsexcellent location and relative freedom of spatial ex-
pression. Like the British, who refer to the continentalpart of Europe as overseas, inhabitants of Riga alsocall the district on the other side of the river the areaacross the Daugava – across the water, across thebridge, namely, Pārdaugava. In this regard, it is inter-esting how Gunnar Birkerts in 2002 described his ap-proach to architecture in the interview with Kay Kaiser,the American architecture critic and author of the bookand many articles about Birkerts:
»Architecture is like a very long bridge. One end isanchored on a very solid bearing point that is rooteddeep in history. The other end is not anchored at all,but is reaching toward in the future.
I can distinguish the differences in the footsteps onthe bridge. There are the heavy, significant strides ofthe true masters. Some are dogmatically marching inthe frozen cadence of their architecture. Coming upbehind them are the fast steps of those who are run-ning in fear of growing old. Their fear makes them ac-cept every fashion that comes along and betray thesolid foundation laid by those who walked before them.As the old ones approach the end of this imaginarybridge, a new group of masters are just beginning tocross. They do not care about being fashionable. Theyare non-dogmatic, versatile, flexible, elastic and verycompetent. They will find the appropriate solution tothe problems and their signatures will not be printedheavily over their architecture. A discriminating eye,however, will know it as theirs. This is the group I hope I am in.«
This building is Birkerts’ homecoming project, andas he returns to Latvia from the USA, crossing thebroad expanse of the ocean, the readers cross thebridge from Old Riga to access the new Library build-ing. When developing the architectural concept of thebuilding, Birkerts used space freely, and it was entirelyhis idea to use allusions to folklore and symbols char-acteristic of the Latvian National Awakening and re-stored independence. The perception of the NationalLibrary from three bridges moving across the RiverDaugava and from the promenades along the embank-ment determines its spatial qualities and significance.It accounts for a distinctively unique silhouette of thebuilding, its symbolism and literary renditions. The sil-houette of the National Library consolidates spacearound itself and with its pyramidal structure rising 68metres high it dominates the skyline and even counter-balances the high-rises of Riga’s new financial andbusiness district located a few hundred metres north-wards.
It is the pyramidal structure that allows the buildingto create a dialogue with Old Riga’s skyline across theriver running half a kilometre wide, and at the sametime effortlessly taking over the vacant territory be-tween the building and the embankment. OriginallyBirkerts had intended to build a wide pedestrian plat-form over the street and ensure free access to the em-bankment; however, the completed street crossing ismuch simpler. Landscape and improvement elementsform an unpretentious base of the Library building withthe planes of lawns rising upwards from the Daugavaand surrounding streets. The ramp providing accessto the service area on the south side of the buildingand a small amphitheatre opening towards the Dauga-va blend naturally within the terrain. The arrangementof pedestrian paths in the large area extending towardsthe street and the embankment, which resembles a
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3. Illustration to Jānis Rainis, Zelta Zirgs (The GoldenHorse), 1909.4. Gunnar Birkerts, National Library of Latvia, conceptsketch.
so. No direct contemporary clichés have been used.Components, materials and their colours were chosenso as to please both visual and tactile senses, as wellas to ensure their durability, focusing first and foremoston one thing – how to highlight the centrepiece – thebook.«
Being a quintessential embodiment of the silver greycolour scheme, the uniting spacious lobby at the en-trance level is an area that is accessible to large audi-ences and that leads to other functions of the Library.The overall impression is made up by stone flooringand glossy and matte metal surfaces used in the finishof walls, ceilings and columns. On the floor polishedand cut granite slabs are combined into clear ethno-graphic patterns that have been used in the Latviantextiles for centuries. Light wooden parts of some wall fragments make the large public space appearcosier.
The impressive atrium is divided into two parts withopen stairs linking six levels. The first section of theatrium is overlooked by peculiarly shaped skylightsrising above the façade, while an effective bookshelfreaching 21 metres high adorns its second section andthe entire Library building as a spatial and thematic ac-cent. Its sloping glass wall greets the visitor and en-sures a permanent presence of the book in the publicspaces of the Library. The giant bookshelf also reflectsthe composition of the layout, i.e. it crowns seven lev-els of storage rooms of books and other printed mate-rials totalling to 6.5 million units.
In interviews, Birkerts has always emphasized thatthe expressive and distinctly peculiar shape of thebuilding was not an obstacle for furnishing the interiorin classically modern Scandinavian style exuding anaura of Nordic austerity. Birkerts has always admiredand held Aalto and Asplund’s works in high esteem,and his career in architecture began in Saarinen’s of-fice. The use of wood as a finish material in interiors isso characteristic of Scandinavian architecture (and al-so of Birkerts’ works and of our contemporary Latvianarchitecture), and it can also be seen in the interior ar-chitecture of the auditorium/concert hall of the Nation-al Library where the arrangement of wooden planes ofvarious textures brings out both acoustic and architec-tural qualities hinting at restrained expressiveness.
The furnishings of the National Library account forthe overall aura of the interior: the public area locat-ed around the entrance lobby and the atrium visuallyblends with the reading rooms, since it is merely aglass wall that physically separates these areas. There-fore, the architect’s choice of materials, their compati-bility, harmony of colours and textures used in the wallfinish and flooring, and the design of the furniture ac-quire a special meaning. Unpretentiousness of variousshades of grey of different stone and metal surfaces,carpets and walls (undoubtedly, one of the master-strokes in the interior design of the National Library)acquires another (background) quality serving as a per-fect foil for the prevailing lightness and warmth of nat-ural birch furniture that is pleasant to touch.
If the design of bookshelves is pragmatic and func-tional, then the perfect balance between the surfaceand the support of reading tables is a good example ofgreat elegance and durability which alludes to the ar-chitecture of the building. References to the expressivevocabulary of modernist architecture are more direct(and this can be clearly seen in Birkerts’ sketches for
these groups of furniture) in the design of the furnitureof information centres in various reading rooms.
Round tables in the information areas of readingrooms and sets of furniture standing out with theirbright colours and distinctive shapes that are inter-spersed between reading rooms and in the public areacomplement the overall geometric arrangement. This isthe zone where colours start to interplay with the sys-tem of navigation markers and graphic signs of thebuilding what complies with the architectural conceptof the building and document A117.1-1998 of the In-ternational Code Council and American National Stan-dards Institute (ANSI). The entire system consists of 17groups of signs, namely, functional markers, floor planswith a traditional red dot – you are here, 16 pictogramswith different meanings, stationary and portable infor-mation stands or captions under works of art displayedin the building. All pictograms fit into square-shapedspaces of various sizes, and their symbols are white onthe background reproduced in 14 different hues relat-ing to the colours used on the Latvian national curren-cy the lat that was replaced by the euro in 2014. Thetypeface Avenir in light, medium and heavy weightshas been used for all signs, markers and captions. Inaddition to the mentioned 17 groups of signs, there aretwo that are particularly important, namely, the lettersmaking up the name »Latvijas Nationālā Bibliotēka«(National Library of Latvia) to the right of the entranceand the Wall of Supporters in the entrance lobby (asimple stainless steel frame that graphically depicts do-nations of various amounts). The name of the buildingblends harmoniously with the architecture of the build-ing, the design of the public transport stop, and in par-ticular, with the slanting roof of the building.
From a sketch to the design of the letters at the en-trance of the Library and to 648 rooms with differentfunctions and to a glass crown at the top, it took 25long years and a lot of patience to complete this build-ing that is Birkerts’ masterpiece.
Why Birkerts?
In the context of the National Library of Latvia both aspects are interesting and important, namely, theoverall image of Gunnar Birkerts’ architecture as a keyto understanding the spatial idiom of the Library build-ing, and professional, political and emotional attrib-utes characterizing Birkerts as the author of the build-ing.
It was a daring act of civil liberty and thinking out-side the box imposed by the system when at Christ-mas, in 1988, three years before the collapse of theSoviet regime, Gunārs Asaris, chief architect of Riga,called Gunnar Birkerts and suggested that he designedthe National Library of Latvia. However, there were atleast four preconditions prompting such a deed, i.e.Birkerts is of Latvian descent and his family had playeda special role in the cultural history of Latvia; Birkertshad personally visited Latvia several times in the 1980sand given public lectures on architecture; Birkerts’ ex-tensive experience in designing of libraries and eightoutstanding library projects completed by that time inthe USA; and the unsuccessful design competition forthe new building of the National Library in 1988.
»I was born, more or less, under the same constella-tion as modern architecture, and very near to the birth-
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5. Gunnar Birkerts, 2008. (Photo: Dainis Bušmanis.)The building of the National Library of Latvia alsocombines architecture, symbols, technology, power,ability and identity. And that is why the building pro-vokes so much discussion and dispute. This processshows the society in cross-section where pride andjoy intermingle with ambition, political speculation andgenerosity of donators, and where far-sightedness ofthe nation coexists alongside narrow-mindedness ofconsumer society.
As the project kept evolving over time, the massingof the building acquired accentuated expressiveness,since a steady linear inclination of the large structuretowards and over the street was replaced by steepverticality of stainless steel planes. Traditional elementsfitted to the urban scale that were protruding from thefaçades in the original version have blended into a sin-gle structure with dynamic vertical bands of windowopenings. The southern façade at a close-up and froma distance appears sculpturally laconic. Its unique sil-houette makes it stand out in the urban environmentwhile the protruding horizontal lines of suspendedstainless steel sun protectors covering the area of 600square metres make it appear intriguing at a close-up.There are some technically interesting details and anattractive interplay of light. The radically distinctive out-line of the façade facing the River Daugava is accentu-ated in a wider urban area by means of light illumina-tion focusing on the recessed transparent bands run-ning along the façade. The transparent part of thefaçade includes a specially designed shade ensuringa transition to plastic windows that provide the neces-sary comfort in reading rooms and in public spaces lo-cated on the upper floors. In fact, the expressivenessof the two façades is achieved through the use of fourtypes of high-quality building materials covering thearea of 15,617 square metres.
If the overall image of the pyramidal building duringthe design elaboration has not substantially deviatedfrom the idea of »the castle of light« and »the mountainof glass«, then the massing of the two façades and theapplied means of expression have undergone signifi-cant changes. However, as regards the content, con-ceptually the façade towards the Daugava has retainedits original source of inspiration. It still includes somedirect references to the sketches made in the 1980s-90s. Thus, the façade facing the river displays the ver-ticality characteristic of Latvia’s birch groves.
The façade towards Pārdaugava avoids any inter-pretations relating to the urban fabric as to the transi-tion from a scale of Riga’s streetscape to the pyramidaledifice. In the completed building the two façades withtwo distinct silhouettes in the process of detail elabora-tion have acquired two distinguishing visual featuresi.e. strong horizontal arrangement in the southern fa-çade that hides all offices of the National Library, andstrong vertical arrangement of the recessed windowopenings in the wing containing reading rooms.
Structure and materials
The building is a reinforced concrete structure ar-ranged on 13 levels (one underground level) with ametal frame structure on two levels at the top of thebuilding. The building rests on piles the total length ofwhich is 8,900 metres. The façades are made of tinted4-layer glass panels which together with the windows
cover the area of 13,900 square metres. The total areaof roof planes is 7,400 square metres. The western andeastern façades are made of stainless steel. The wholestructure rests on the foundations made of monolithicconcrete and thermal insulation panels that are insert-ed in water-resistant metal casing. The total weight ofsteel roof panels is 607 tons.
The choice of building materials determines the na-ture and visual appearance of the edifice. The idea ofthe »glass mountain« does not necessary mean thatthe building is made of glass. The author has alwaysemphasized that the National Library is the buildingwith a particularly important function rendered in sol-emn tones.
To a large extent, shades and tones of the materialsused in the exterior can also be seen in the interior –glass, granite in different shades of grey, silvery-whitematte and lustrous metal, wood.
Layout
The linear structure of the building runs parallel to Val-guma Street, the total length of the structure is 170metres, width – 44 metres, and height – 68.3 metres.The layout is simple and functional. A special board ofinternational experts appointed by UNESCO and spe-cialists from the National Library supervised the entireprocess of its development and alteration. The Nation-al Library is divided into five functional areas, wherereading rooms take up the largest part or 28 percent,public spaces 23 percent, auxiliary rooms 19 percent,rooms and offices for the staff 18 percent and storagefacilities of printed materials 12 percent.
The large auditorium / concert hall with 450 seats, abook shop, exhibition halls with the floor space of 470square metres, a book museum, a café and a restau-rant are arranged at the entrance level, around thecentral lobby. The auditorium at the entrance levelshares the same function with the conference centrelocated at the underground level and covering the areaof 1,450 square metres.
All reading rooms and exhibition halls open towardsthe Daugava and have amazing views across the riverto Old Riga. Rooms and offices of the staff of the Na-tional Library and other institutions align the southernfaçade. The pride and glory of the interior is a spaciousatrium in the central part of the building which spatiallycombines eight levels providing natural daylight to thepublic spaces. In the central part there are book stor-ages on six levels, the large auditorium and auxiliaryrooms. Both level 9 and level 10 are fully provided fortechnical facilities.
Technical maintenance of the building is plannedfrom the ramp embedded in the relief between thebuilding itself and Valguma Street which provides aneasy access to technical facilities at the undergroundlevel, as well as to the conference halls and the con-cert hall / auditorium.
Interior and furniture
Both the author of the design and his Latvian partnershave defined their interior concept of the National Li-brary as follows: »The architecture of the interior of TheCastle of Light is strict, and even clean – if we can say
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day of Bauhaus«, Birkerts says. And it is true, he wasborn on 17 January 1925 and his childhood years co-incided with Latvia’s first and brief period of indepen-dence between the two world wars. His parents Pē-teris Birkerts (1881–1956) and Merija Shop Birkerts(1894–1982) came from the academically educated in-telligentsia of Latvia who had started to research andclassify treasures of Latvian cultural heritage, especial-ly folklore, even before 1918, when the State of Latviawas founded. Birkerts’ father Pēteris, a renowned cre-ativity psychologist, writer, folklorist and philosopher,was one of the most highly educated people in Latviaof his time. Birkerts’ mother was a linguist, folkloristand teacher who was loved by her students. The con-ceptually dense spiritual heritage and influence of hisparents on the future architect allows Kay Kaiser, anarchitecture critic and researcher of Birkerts’ work, toconclude: »Latvia’s symbols, mythology and literatureshaped him before he could walk down the streets onhis own. Indigenous and ancient folk songs, parables,riddles and sayings expressed the national spirit. Bir-kerts inherited their (parents) verbal ability. The sym-bols, wit and accessible metaphors that are in his ar-chitecture came from this exposure. Birkerts’ interestin the psychological implications of design can betraced to his father.«1
We often speak about the soul and musicality ofbuildings. I believe it should be emphasised alsospeaking about Birkerts as an architect – in his youthhe used to sing in a choir (Latvians are, indeed, a realchoral singing nation!), play the violin and the piano.Remarkably, the piano of the Birkerts family (the samethat the master of architecture played in his childhood)now stands and is played in the public area on thetop floor of the Library building.
Along with the influence of his parents and theirsocial activities, Riga as a Nordic metropolis and aHanseatic city with its distinctive spatial compositionand the proximity of the Baltic Sea have also shapedBirkerts’ interests and the early development of hispersonality.
In 1938, Birkerts started seriously studying sciencesas well as the German and English languages at RigaGymnasium No 1. While still a schoolboy, at the age of 13, Birkerts decided to become an architect: it wasa spontaneous decision made after seeing an architec-tural sketch drawn by an older schoolmate and dis-played at an exhibition dedicated to the choice of fu-ture profession. In 1941, the Birkerts family experi-enced the first Soviet occupation and, in 1944, at theend of WWII when the second Soviet occupation wasimminent, Gunnar Birkerts together with the family ofhis friend Augusts Grasis left for Germany and settledin Nördlingen. When the war ended in 1945 Birkertswithstood a competition from other foreign studentsand was accepted at the Technische Hochschule inStuttgart. He left Nördlingen with his best friend Gra-sis, who became his roommate in Stuttgart and lateran engineer and industrialist based in Kansas City.All his life Augusts Grasis remained Birkerts’ bestfriend whom the master has also designed two pri-vate houses.
At the age of 20 when he began studying at the uni-versity, Birkerts understood that it was his big chance.»Now I had the end of the rope, and from now I had todo the pulling. According to my strengths, I would ei-ther make it or not«, he says. If German students want-
ed to dedicate their knowledge and work to the recov-ery of the country after the devastating war or were im-mersed in an interesting theoretical dispute betweenthe Bauhaus and Heimatstil directions in architecture,then Birkerts focused on the global developments inarchitecture, especially in the USA and Scandinaviawhere such great masters of architecture as Alvar Aal-to, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Erik Gunnar Asplund, SvenMarkelius practised. Even then, Birkerts concludedthat only dogma was to follow the dogma. ProfessorRolf Gutbrod with his independent way of thinking, asynthesized approach to the analysis of architecturalprocesses and his life style was a great source of influ-ence on young Birkerts during his university years. Intheir conversations the professor introduced Birkertsto the architectural principles used by Hans Scharounand Rudolf Steiner.
At the end of 1949, Birkerts graduated from the university in Stuttgart having obtained thorough and practical knowledge of the old world and a diploma ofan architect and engineer issued by the Technical Uni-versity. However, Birkerts was eager to see the newworld and on 17 December 1949, one month before his twenty-fifth birthday, his ship arrived in New Yorkharbour after an eleven-day passage from Bremer-haven.
Unlike the previous part of Birkerts’ biography thatwas defined mostly by his parents, history and WWII,the years Birkerts spent in the USA were shaped by hisown intellect, talent and professional diplomacy. How-ever, two facts should be mentioned. Firstly, his fatherPēteris Birkerts had already trodden a path to Ameri-ca for his son when he arrived in the USA in 1905 andstudied law at Valparaiso University in Indiana and, af-ter graduation, studied psychology and sociology atNew York City’s Columbia University. Gunnar Birkertsattempted to enter the University of Michigan as earlyas in 1947, when he was still studying in Stuttgart. Hewas not accepted on the grounds that he was not pre-pared well enough. A mere twelve years passed, andat the kind invitation of the very same university Bir-kerts started to work as a professor of architecturethere. Moreover, he received recognition and honorarytitles for his work in professor’s capacity from the Uni-versity of Michigan and from a number of other schoolsof architecture. Is this sheer chance, coincidence, ordestiny?
Secondly, at the very beginning of 1950, Birkertstook the iconic Greyhound bus and, armed with a rec-ommendation letter from Professor Gutbrod, went toBloomfield Hills, Michigan, to meet Eero Saarinen.However, Saarinen could not offer a job to Birkerts atthat time because the project of the General MotorsTechnical Centre had come to a standstill. Instead, atEero Saarinen’s recommendation, Birkerts worked fora Chicago architecture firm Perkins and Will for a year,then again returned to Saarinen, a renowned masterof Scandinavian architecture, under the guidance ofwhich he worked till 1955. Birkerts highly values thisperiod and the following years from 1955 till 1959,when he worked with Minoru Yamasaki, as a periodof self-development under the guidance of great con-temporary architects of different mentalities. »I had lis-tened long enough. My apprenticeship was over. Nowit was my turn to speak«, Birkerts says.
What follows is a success story spanning half a cen-tury long and comprising iconic buildings in the USA,
a number of monographs, theoretical accounts of thecreative process, countless photos on the covers of ar-chitecture journals, professor’s work at the University ofMichigan and guest lectures at many schools of archi-tecture all over the world.
Birkerts is a convinced second-generation mod-ernist in a broader sense of this notion, his architectureis organic and contextual in its deepest essence. Heworks with structures above the ground and under-ground – he makes light a non-material building materi-al. Birkerts is the architect of light. Birkerts’ best worksare characterized by the presence of »Zeitgeist« as wellas symbols and metaphors. And finally, the expressive-ness of his buildings allows Birkerts to be called an ex-pressive modernist what adds an idiosyncratic style tohis architecture.
Birkerts himself, critics and his world-renowned col-leagues have come up with conclusive statementsabout the architect’s creative method and individualbuildings. The quotations given below provide a morecomprehensive insight on the building of the NationalLibrary of Latvia as seen by Birkerts himself and in thecontext of Latvian and international architecture.
»If you have a building that has a need, a particularcharge to do something; if there is soul somewhere inthe programme, that the building has to talk, inspire orproject; then this is the biggest challenge: to expressthe soul, the feeling, the meaning, the essence of whatit is and what it does«, said Birkerts referring to themission of the building and its added value (1983,School of Architecture, University of Illinois) exactly 30years before the completion of the National Libraryproject. And these are the principles that the Libraryproject embodies.
»He (Birkerts) is indeed a complete architect, veryaware of his responsibilities and of the social role thathis buildings play. He maintains an unflagging concernfor the comfort and pleasure of the users, and for thekey relationship among the whole, the parts, and thehuman scale«, says architect Cesar Pelli.2
»His own way« chosen by the architect and somespecial (iconic) buildings have earned him a place inthe global architecture and recognition among fellowarchitects. Thus, speaking about the author of the Na-tional Library of Latvia, we should mention a fusion ofconciseness and functionality in the Contemporary ArtMuseum (Houston, 1970–72), transformation of engi-neering structures of the building into a striking visu-al image of the Federal Reserve Bank (Minneapolis,1967–73), a very successful use of the undergroundspace aimed at preservation of qualities of the historicarchitecture in the addition to the Law School, Univer-sity of Michigan (Ann Arbor, 1974–81) and a challeng-ing approach to plasticity of geometric shapes in theCorning Museum of Glass (Corning, NY, 1976–80).
Birkerts has also designed several noteworthy library buildings, namely, Duluth Public Library (Minne-sota, 1969–79), Uris Library addition, Cornell Universi-ty (Ithaca, NY, 1980–83), Central Library expansion,University of California (San Diego, 1987–93) and Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. Library (San Jose, 1998–2004),which combining the needs of the city of San Jose and the San Jose State University covers the samearea as the National Library of Latvia.
And the third group of Birkerts’ works is charac-terized by the expressive vocabulary of shapes, themessage or the dynamism (expression) present in the
building of the National Library of Latvia as well. Thepapal altar and furniture, Pontiac Silverdome (Pontiac, 1987), of course, is not a building, but the dynamicsof broken lines and references to the Pope’s message,the analysis of the ritual and behaviour makes thisgroup of objects designed for the Pope’s visit standapart as the work of art in its own right. The peculiarmassing of the building of the United States EmbassyOffice in Venezuela (Caracas, 1989–96) accentuated byhorizontal lines running along the façade as well as theoverhang at the entrance and the structure of accessroads have given expression and articulation to thebuilding restrained by protocol. Kemper Museum ofContemporary Art and Design (Kansas City, 1991 to 1994) demonstrates the diversity of the cultural spacethrough the massing while the façade and the roof (likein the building of the National Library of Latvia) innate-ly form a single composition. The mansion (Vail, Col-orado, 1990–94) designed by Birkerts for his bestfriend Augusts Grasims displays the same qualities. Ibelieve that the addition to the Law School, Ohio StateUniversity (Columbus, 1988–93) should also be on thislist. The stairs attached to the wing containing officesgives the whole complex, where the library is an essen-tial part,a new direction, dynamics and expression.
Birkerts has always designed with a long-term per-spective in mind and has avoided throwing somer-saults in an attempt to chase the latest fashion. He al-so describes the National Library of Latvia as a classi-cal and modern building due to its serious museum-function since the entire collection of the materialsprinted in Latvia is stored there. The Library buildingis a long-lasting phenomenon in the building art of thenation. »Architecture is not living in the historical illu-sions, nor in the utopian projections. Architecture is to-day being conceived by the minds of today, being builtby the hands of today and technology of today. Tech-nology does not prevent one from working with themoods that architecture may have to express, whetherthey are symbolic or metaphoric. The important thingis to build, to synthesize the needs, the aspirations,the directions in art and life style, to conceive the an-swers that are buildable, useable. An extension of thepast …«3
A brief look at the history of the Birkerts’ family andmaster’s creative biography, at the buildings he hascreated and his thoughts about architecture, in myopinion, is a strong argument for the choice of the au-thor of the National Library of Latvia – it is this rare win-win situation which gives Latvia international recogni-tion and a landmark building while its author has achance to return home with a symbolic building anda crowning achievement of his creative career.
1 The Architecture of Gunnar Birkerts, text by KayKaiser, Washington, D.C.,1989.2 University of Illinois, School of Architecture, Plym Distinguished Professorship in Architecture, 1983.3 From an interview with Charles Gandee, editor, in Architectural Record, 1983.
This essay is a continuation of the descriptions andanalyses the author has presented in his articles aboutthe National Library of Latvia in the magazine Latvijasarchitektūra (Latvian Architecture) between 2011 and2014.
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1. Gunnar Birkerts, Schwartz Summer Residence,Northville, Michigan, 1960. (Photo: Balthazar Korab.)2. Gunnar Birkerts, University Reformed Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1963/64). (Photo: Balthazar Korab.)3. Gunnar Birkerts, Travis Residence, Franklin, Michi-gan, 1964/65. (Photo: Keiichi Miayshita.)4. Gunnar Birkerts, Federal Reserve Bank, Minnea-polis, Minnesota, 1967–73. (Photo: Balthazar Korab.)5. Gunnar Birkerts, Duluth Public Library, Duluth, Min-nesota, 1969–79. (Photo: Balthazar Korab.)6. Gunnar Birkerts, Contemporary Arts Museum Hous-ton, Houston, Texas, 1970–72. (Photo: Balthazar Korab.)7. Gunnar Birkerts, Calvary Baptist Church, Detroit,Michigan, 1974–77. (Photo: Timothy Hursley.)8. Gunnar Birkerts, The Corning Museum of Glass,Corning, New York, 1976–80. (Photo: Timothy Hurs-ley.)9. Gunnar Birkerts, Holtzman & Silverman office build-ing, Southfield, Michigan, 1983–89. (Photo: BalthazarKorab.)10. Gunnar Birkerts, library addition, University of Cali-fornia, San Diego, California, 1987–93. (Photo: GlenCormier.)11. Gunnar Birkerts, Church of the Servant, Kentwood,Michigan, 1988–94. (Photo: Timothy Hursley.)12. Gunnar Birkerts, papal altar and furniture, Pontiac,Michigan, 1987. (Photo: Balthazar Korab.)13. Gunnar Birkerts, United States Embassy office build-ing, Caracas, Venezuela, 1989–96. (Photo: Gunnar Bir-kerts.)14. Gunnar Birkerts, Kemper Museum of ContemporaryArt and Design, Kansas City, Missouri, 1991–94. (Photo:Timothy Hursley.)15. Gunnar Birkerts with Carrier Johnson, Dr. MartinLuther King Jr. Library, San Jose, California, 1998–2004.(Photo: Timothy Hursley.)
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1. Aerial view from the east from the top of the Acad-emy of Sciences.2. View from the north from the suspension bridgeacross the River Daugava.
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3. View from the north with the main entrance in theforeground.4. View from the north-west showing the sculpturally laconic south-west façade with the rhythmical lines ofstainless steel sun protectors.
pp. 26, 275. Detail of the north-east façade with the dynamic vertical bands of window openings.6. Detail of the south-west façade with the suspend-ed stainless-steel sun protectors.
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pp. 48/49 25. The sloping glass wall greets the visitor and ensuresa permanent presence of books in the public spaces ofthe library. Behind the sloping glass wall is a huge book-case rising six storeys high, which is filled with booksdonated and inscribed by people. It also reflects thecomposition of the layout – it crowns seven levels ofstorage space of books and other printed materials to-talling to 6.5 million units.
23. The top of the bookcase and the public space on level 8.24. The Interior space of the bookcase with the mirroron the ceiling doubling the real amount of books.
