Stockholm City Library
Competition entry 2006
‘An insight is needed (and that probably very soon) as to what is specially lacking in our great cities - namely, quiet, spacious, and widely extended places for reflection, places with long, lofty colonnades for bad weather, or for too sunny days…
We want to go for a walk in ourselves when we wander in these halls and gardens.’
Friederich Nietzsche, 1882
Halls and Gardens of Knowledge and Delight
With its low profile, the new building amplifies the presence of the Observatoriekullen, the spine of the city assembled by the meltwaters of the glacier.
Framing the relationship of the Asplund library to the topography, and telling of the history of the hill, a collection of stones assembled from far and wide. Frequently cut into, the hill now is allowed to continue as a series of terraces and courts to a formal conclusion at Odengatan, culminating in a belvedere tower looking back over the park, and a rich façade to the street.
The naturalistic English landscaping of Adelcrantz is extended over the northern slope, and thinned to wildflowers and young open woodland. This is juxtaposed with the hedge and herb walls of the library garden rooms.