Stockholm Public Library International Architectural Competition
Preannouncement
The Stockholm Public Library, designed by Gunnar Asplund, has been the
city’s main library since it was inaugurated nearly 75 years ago. It is
not only one of the city’s most important buildings architecturally, but
the library is also a very important public building for the inhabitants
of Stockholm. The aim is to ensure that the building remains to be a
public library also in the future. Stockholm as a city is expanding, its
inhabitants are becoming younger and more multicultural, at the same
time as the knowledge society is developing. That is why the library
also needs to be improved, extended and given new functions.
The City of Stockholm is organising an international architectural
competition for the extension of the library in two stages:
* The first stage of the competition will start on 1 June 2006. The
competition brief will not be published before that date.
* The closing date for the first stage will be in October 2006.
* The second stage with a maximum of five participants is expected
to start in May 2007.
* Both stages of the competition will be anonymous.
* The total prize money is SEK 2.2 million.
The aim is for the competition to result in an extension of high
architectural quality and a world-class combined library function with
Asplund’s main library as an integral part. The library needs the
extension in order to preserve the function of the Asplund building as a
public library. The library will need about 24,000 sqm compared to the
14,000 sqm it has today, of which 7,500 sqm are in the Asplund building.
The extension should quadruple the current space available to the
general public in the existing library.
The competition is intended to produce a winning proposal, which can
form the basis for the realisation of the project.
The two-stage competition aims to:
* produce a proposal for an attractive, well-functioning library of
high architectural quality, and with a concept that is strong enough to
withstand a dynamic implementation process
* provide a basis for the planning process
* provide scope for procuring an architectural service in
accordance with the Act on Public Procurement for the subsequent design
and implementation of the project.
http://www.arkitekt.se/asplund