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Beinecke Library of Rare Manuscripts at Yale University

Biblioteca Beinecke de manuscritos raros en la Universidad de Yale.

1960 - 1963
BUNSHAFT, Gordon
SOM, Skidmore, Owing & Merril

New Haven (Connecticut)
Estados Unidos

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The debate on the evolution of libraries continues with the arrival of the Modern Movement. Many doubts arise about the adaptation of new materials to library service (insulation of concrete walls, large surfaces, large glass spaces, maintenance costs...) character of representativeness… The modern versatility that new materials can bring to interior spaces is sought and the role that modern monumentality is acquiring is accepted with growing interest.

In the case of the Beinecke Library of Rare Manuscripts at Yale University,the large scale of the library's forms contrasts sharply with the more subtle, easy-to-interpret scale of the surrounding buildings.

One of the problems inherent to the austere, industrial-inspired architecture of international architectural rationalism of the mid-20th century was the lack of such keys. Its architects were proud of having gotten rid of details that for centuries had been providing visual cues to architecture. Old buildings provide many clues about size relative to people, but the library provides none. We can only get an idea of the size of the library when we compare it with the people and bicycles in the foreground.

Bunshaft's final project was based on two fundamental ideas: the first was that the shelves of the depository could contribute in themselves to the exhibition of the library's treasures, becoming the focus of attention of the exhibition space. Bunshaft realized that such a space could be organized around a huge heated glass case that would provide an absolutely safe and airtight environment for the books. Secondly, he understood that, although the room should be illuminated, direct sunlight would be detrimental to the volumes. His solution consisted of placing that glass box inside another even larger one, with translucent marble walls. From the outside the marble seems opaque, but when the sun shines, the panels diffuse a honey-colored light within this continent that highlights the leather bindings of the books kept there. The result, carried out with great skill, in a space of unsurpassed strength and simplicity.

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