PHOTOS: Is The Vennesla Library The Most Beautiful Library In The World?

Last week, author Elmore Leonard told us, "I don't need anything else when I read. The sound of the words in my head is enough."

Most book lovers likely agree that reading is reading, whether in a dimly-lit coffee house or a screeching subway car. But a calming atmosphere couldn't hurt. And the newly opened Vennesla Library in Norway creates just that.

Modern, minimalist and angular, it's a departure from the opulent, oft-cluttered, lived-in scene we typically envision when we hear the word "library."

"The expressive ribs combine structure, technical infrastructure, and functionality," writes archdaily.com. "[It] seeks to become an extension of the main city square with its transparent facade and urban loggia."

The library was designed by Helen & Hard, and consists of "a café, meeting places and administrative areas." The multiple functions of the low-energy building are an attempt to thread the library together with the other functions of the city square.

"The urban infill project works in conjunction with pedestrian flow and encourages interaction and community gatherings," wrote the architecture website inhabitat.com. "Natural daylighting, vertical sun shading, energy efficient systems and material resource efficiency are all part of the sustainability of the new library."

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Comments

[Anita Aasheim Knutsen]

04:19 PM on 04/25/2012

It´s a really nice library. It looks better in real life then on photos. I live in Vennesla and have experienced that it has been an important new building in our community. Vennesla is not large (about 13.500 inhabitants), and we have been waiting for a new library since the 50´s. It fulfills its purpose, the number of people who are borrowing books are increasing, especially among our youth :)

[Barbara Wolfe]

06:24 PM on 02/27/2012

It is not very appealing to me at all. It looks forbidding from the outside and impersonal on the inside. It looks as if it could be converted into something else entirely in two days. IMO, it is just another modern, soon to look dated, building without a sense of self. (or, I could just say it's sterile)

[mtfer032359]

09:51 PM on 02/26/2012

it is amazingly beautiful. but that exterior.....i hope its not wood, cause were talkin alot of maintainance....

[yumenaraba]

08:33 PM on 02/26/2012

This is a hideous library.

[zanstele]

07:00 PM on 02/26/2012

Too much wasted space and it looks like an old barn in one picture

[Dontneedtoknow]

06:08 PM on 02/26/2012

Library....what's a library?

[Segismundo]

08:40 AM on 02/26/2012

Bay, way too much brute cement. Norway can have it.

[Derek Locksley]

01:33 PM on 02/24/2012

My library might be uglier, but it is better -- it has computers on every floor so that you can look at their catalog

[The Grouch]

09:31 PM on 02/23/2012

A couple of those pictures made me dizzy. If I was there in person, I might lose my cookies on the floor, thereby defacing the most beautiful library in the world.

[ProudToBeVeryLiberal]

04:53 PM on 02/23/2012

If only we could be just a little like Scandinavia...

[whitneygre]

05:57 PM on 02/26/2012

Very Little!!

[Carrick]

03:56 PM on 02/23/2012

I fear that sterile open space would be noisy, plus where does one sit? How does someone with bad knees get down to the many low book shelves? It appears that few books are at eye level.

My community of 35,000 has a beautiful new library which is also light and airy, but it includes comfy seating and a variety of open study/reading spaces and enclosed carrels, scattered around. One can find community tables or easy chairs. None of the book shelves are so low that you cripple yourself trying to access the books at floor level. My library also has computers, meeting rooms, community resource centers, plenty of recorded books and DVDs, on line ebooks to borrow... you name it, our library can probably supply it. It... is a beautiful thing to use, even if it isn't an architectural statement like the one featured.

[DoanDavid]

03:14 PM on 02/23/2012

As one who lives just a few minutes walk away from the library I can tell right now that, while the building is indeed impressive, I still don't think it's that great a library. As someone here has pointed out the selection of books is not so great, but then again, Vennesla is a small municipality (pop. 13 570), so anything bigger would be a waste.

What really puts me off is that this not a full fledge library, it's a culture house, something we have in Norway (you probably have something similar, I dunno), and they are described as "houses for all cultural activity". The pictures here doesn't show it, but the first half of the building is used as a restaurant, so if you are in the library part, don't expect much peace and quiet, because the constant sound of people talking and chatting is always there.

[shanesmom]

02:53 PM on 02/23/2012

Doesn't do it for me...

[lw1]

02:51 PM on 02/23/2012

Too many books on the bottom shelves. Sorry but that's tough on us old folks!

[archUF]

02:22 PM on 02/23/2012

This library is great. Just a comment on the commenters who say it is "sterile". With the complexity of the form, the elements within the library, and the perfection with which the form of the exterior becomes the main elements of the interior - how can you say it is sterile? I think that you can imagine when you are in the space the countless hours and attention to detail, the sweat and hours pouring over the design to realize this space is incredible. If you can't get ahold of that, maybe you are not taking time to really consider the building. Just saying, this building appears to be designed by someone very genuine in their intent to provide a functional, inspirational, and complex building - while serving the community. Just look at how transparent the front of the building is - showing the roof structure as a "shelter" from the street. If you were passing by and saw the illuminated volume inside from the street, wouldn't you feel like it was welcoming you in?

[whitneygre]

05:59 PM on 02/26/2012

The building may be interesting and impressive, but as a library if FAILS!!