A Classical and Picturesque Analysis

The Turku City Library, by JKMM Architects, is located in the historical center of the town in Turku, Finland. The adjacent buildings all have major historical backgrounds, including the old library down the road. The Turku City Library was a contemporary addition to the neighborhood in 2007. The idea for it was to harmonize with the old and the new; to do this the architects had to use an existing grid created by the adjacent buildings. Within this grid, the library buildings would be organized into the neighborhood.
In general, libraries are created with a classical order, especially in the context that the Turku City Library is in, it required a bit of the classical approach. The interior used European Oak for the wall furnishing and furniture to create a singular effect.
The library is divided into three sections, with an entire wall spanning and pushed toward the corner edge of the block (as seen on the plan). This allowed for an open courtyard and area for cultural events. The first and second floors are entirely for public use, equipped with a reception area, lounge, reading rooms and ‘The News Room’ which is used as a segue between the new and old buildings. The third floor houses some of the staff rooms or offices and few more reading rooms.
From the classical approach, the old library space (the building section on the left) is completely symmetrical, has a centralized staircase and connects well with the neighboring buildings. But the main public reading space on the right only has the centralized staircase. The old library is very beautiful in its proportions and usage of simple geometries in plan. Overall, it is still a functional area that utilizes the large space and high ceilings to retain the classical portion of the library.
From the picturesque approach, the library is perfect. Variety of masses, asymmetrical order, and different areas to explore to get the full experience of the library. As mentioned earlier about the glass, it was used in a variety of places on the façade to allow light into the various spaces intended for reading (as seen in the images at the end).
The preexisting grid of the old neighborhood, mentioned in the beginning, was only for the placement and layout of the buildings. Amongst the library’s new façade, the placement is solely based on the interior activities taking place in the asymmetrically ordered interior of the building (right in plan). Another interesting thing about the interior of the open space, is the overlapping of the floors in the top-right corner and over the staircase, which would never be seen in a classical building, further emphasizing the picturesque aspect.
Although there is the centralized staircase in the public reading space, there is also a secondary, circular or winding staircase to the left of it in plan. This staircase leads from the open courtyard into the library in the simplest form of vertical circulation. Remembering that most, if not all, of the design of the library was to be functional, it makes perfect sense that the JKMM Architects added this staircase in, instead of having a person enter through a side door and forced to use the centralized staircase, which is also an option still available.