weirdest library design EVAR
Look at and read about the design for Prague’s new national library. I can only say OMG. Or, as Joe Alterio aptly titles his post about it “A slime draws near. Command?” [thanks josh!]
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Hi. My name is Jessamyn West and I'll be your librarian today. I work in rural Vermont as a library consultant and also am a moderator at MetaFilter.com. My personal blog is at jessamyn.com. Feel free to contact me if you have questions or comments.
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September 11th, 2007 at 9:30
A library for Teletubbies? http://pbskids.org/teletubbies/teletubbyland.html
September 11th, 2007 at 10:13
Teletubbies was my first thought as well.
September 12th, 2007 at 4:33
It evokes reading… um, 1950s science fiction, anyway ;-) (Joe Alterio wins “best post title” pretty handily)
September 12th, 2007 at 7:33
wow - I’m SO not original. I looked at the pics, immediately thought “oh my - they designed a huge teletubby” and booked it over here, only to see others thought the same thing.
Tubby Custard, anyone?
Oh and ps - your blog design ROCKS.
September 12th, 2007 at 8:21
I posted a pic of this as wallpaper on our ref desk terminal last year. It is pretty far out, and it embodies part of the Prague spirit. Reminds me a lot of the black-light marionette theatre production of “Yellow Submarine” I attended there once.
September 12th, 2007 at 8:26
Ummm… yeah, that will look really good in Prague, in my opinion, the most beautiful city in Europe. What are they thinking?
I don’t know, but I’ll say this: decline of Western civ.
September 12th, 2007 at 8:52
Geez, and I thought the Seattle Public Library was ugly. I wouldn’t expect to find a neo-classical Carnegie-style library in Prague, but this is an abomination.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:52
Any library must first be functional. It’s too early to tell from these photos whether this one will be.
Now, cities think their library (or other public institution) building needs to stand out to generate interest. Like it or not, the Seattle Public Library did just that and is a destination landmark for people visiting the city.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:59
i love it; it’s like a giant, melting smurf hat! i’m warming up my passport and brushing up on my czech right now!
September 12th, 2007 at 11:28
It might not be your cup of tea, but “decline of Western civ.” is a little harsh - the most beautiful cities in the world are created from the juxtaposition of architectural styles that may look similar to us now but at the time were met with indignation and cries of “abomination” …
September 12th, 2007 at 11:50
Looks like a giant sneeze! Wow! Just one more reason to say no to drugs! That has got to be one of the ugliest building plans EVER!
September 12th, 2007 at 4:00
Wow! I’d never thought about doing research/reading a book inside Kang and/or Kodos before! Interesting!
September 12th, 2007 at 7:27
[…] no librarian.net o seguinte título: weirdest library design (que entendi como o mais estranho design de biblioteca). Me digam se ele tem […]
September 12th, 2007 at 10:14
“Like it or not, the Seattle Public Library did just that (generate interest) and is a destination landmark for people visiting the city.”
Maybe so, but from what I’ve heard and read about it so far, it’s not functional for the people who actually have to use it. Form and function go together and can’t be separated.
September 13th, 2007 at 7:31
Decline of Western civilization? Come on!
(One qustion: is Czech Republic still considered Eastern or already Western civ?)
But anyway:
I like that building for its unusual sight. Where would our civil. be if we would only always build the same old stuff? And I know enough libraries that are build in the common (that means for me: postwar European ugliness) style that are very unfunctional for the staff.
September 13th, 2007 at 12:25
My first thought was of those alien creatures from the 1953 film adaptation of “War of the Worlds”: http://www.war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk/gall_f14.htm.
September 13th, 2007 at 12:42
Dragon Warrior references!?!?! I’m in geek heaven!
September 14th, 2007 at 10:42
[…] 如此造型的圖書館當然引起了許多的討論，librarian.net 那裡就有很多人留言，其中還有人認為看到這個造型時，就立即聯想到 天線寶寶 (teletubbies)，相當有趣 […]
September 20th, 2007 at 7:54
Sweet jeezus, George Jetson meets a mutated Smurf meets the caterpillar-sitting-on-a-mushroom from Alice in Wonderland…WTF were they THINKING?!? And what DRUGS were they on?!?
September 21st, 2007 at 11:18
Have you seen the Minsk Library yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sqqmj1kvVI
Death Star, Las Vegas style…
September 26th, 2007 at 12:17
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - best laugh I’ve had all day. Having said that, I wouldn’t really call it ugly,just unusual… i wonder how functional it will be. The National Library - hmm has anyone checked for pods in Prague?
Vickie
September 26th, 2007 at 2:17
i’m a 13 year old girl and not a librarian but i say, keep building Prague!
that is an awsome design and i love it. you adults can contradict me all you want but i think who ever designed should put one were i am.
October 5th, 2007 at 7:06
This building looks like the architect was stoned and thinking of shrumbs. Who knows?
October 15th, 2007 at 7:17
[…] Link via Librarian.net […]
November 7th, 2007 at 10:04
This is the most intresting Library design I’ve ever seen! I’m in grade twelve and I’m designing a library for my drafting class. Thus, I’ve been looking at a lot of designs, but this is the only one that looks like it wasn’t just designed for books, but for people as well. It doesn’t take drugs to think this up, just an imagination.