■ کتابخانه آستانه ملی بخش معماری

Astana National Library

Project by: BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
Location: Astana, Kazakhstan
Program: Public library
Architect's statement
The National Library is conceived as the integration of 4 organizational strategies into one new national institution; the perfect circle of the national archives, the orbiting spiral of the public spaces, the complex geometry of the Möbius envelope and the radially distributed section of the Kazakh landscape.
The pure diagram of the circle combined with the meandering trajectory of the public path creates an institution that is rigorous and playful, crystal clear and serendipitous. The eager student, the focused researcher, the citizen pilgrim and the curious tourist will all find an institution that meets their needs.
The Architecture of the National Library fuses 4 universal archetypes into one new national monument; the circle, the rotunda, the arch and the yurt are merged in the form of a Möbius strip.
The clarity of the circle, the courtyard of the rotunda, the gateway of the arch and the soft silhouette of the yurt are combined to create a new national monument appearing local and universal, contemporary and timeless, unique and archetypal at the same time.
The program of the National Library of Kazakhstan is resolved through 4 intertwining systems: (1) An inner circular core containing the Presidential Library’s collections of books, magazines and media. (2) A continuous spiral loop of supporting and additional functions orbiting the circular core. (3) A protective skin wrapping the whole structure, creating a mediating space between inside and out. (4) A concentric park of ecological systems representing the diversity of the Kazakh landscape and the capital’s transition from Almaty to Astana.
Möbius Strip:
The 2 interlocking structures: the perfect circle and the public spiral, create a building that transforms from a horizontal organization where library museum and support functions are placed next to each other, to a vertical organization where they are stacked on top of each other through a diagonal organization combining vertical hierarchy, horizontal connectivity and diagonal view lines. By wrapping the transforming composition of spaces with a continuous skin we create a Möbius strip volume where the façades move from inside to outside and back again.