Bishan Public Library @ Bishan, Singapore
Another part i visited Singapore was by dropping by Bishan Station, and just a stone throw away, there goes Bishan Public Library. I first noticed it at ArchDaily. I took a fast 30 minutes walk about the area, at first i was afraid to enter the compound with my camera bag, what more taking pictures when the shutter of DSLR breaks the silence of the reading area, anyways that’s what i always do. I thought waiting for night time for some night lighting photos but it was too early then. One has to easily identify the “pop up” boxes theme here. The tinted glasses obviously did its job, whether it’s the exterior or interior glass, but the main facade facing to the main street certainly does its job, while having the right and left elevations solid somehow, the back facade is glass again with overhang shades.
For more details and better shots, Visit HERE . Wiki: The Bishan Community Library (Chinese: 碧山社区图书馆) is the newest library in the National Library Board network situated at Bishan, Singapore which opened on 2 September 2006. Located in Bishan Central just behind Junction 8 Shopping Centre, it has a captive population of around 90,000 in the Bishan area, and is expected to help serve the needs of several nearby schools such as Catholic High School, Guangyang Secondary School, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School, Whitley Secondary School, Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College. Here’s more detail on the floor plan.
The library was conceived in the late 1990s in light of high traffic in the Toa Payoh Community Library and Ang Mo Kio Community Library. Plans for the library commenced in 2002, and construction took place from 2003 to 2006 at a cost of about S$10 million. Designed by Look Boon Gee, it will have about 250,000 titles spread over four floors and a basement, with a Cafe Galilee in the first floor. Windows that protrude out of the building are actually reading “pods”, for readers who want to read quietly or use their laptops there. The design of the library won a number of awards for its architecture, locally and internationally. The awards won include the President’s Design Award in 2007 and the International Architecture Award in 2009
Personally i love how the building speaks, bold lines, grid elements.. even the interior carpets portray the same theme but with interesting colors.. as a public building, the space organization is certainly well defined. For more pictures please visit my public enabled Facebook Album HERE.
