National Library by Ken Yeang

At first glance, the building seems to be trying a bit too hard to impress, with a sweeping facade on the east, a vast array of projecting blades and shelves, and a UFO-shaped viewing pavilion hovering above the roof. But these moves help animate what could have been a large, squat building—630,000 square feet and only 16 stories high. And by carving deep recesses and skycourts into the white blocky form, the architect creates a lively play of shadow and light that not only pleases the eye but offers cool spaces for people using the building.

When the National Library Board of Singapore held a design competition for the project in 1998, it didn’t ask for a green building. As the Singapore economy has shifted in recent years from an industrial base to one driven by information technologies and services, the government has undertaken the construction of sprawling educational campuses, some designed by high-profile international architects such as James Stirling/Michael Wilford [record, May 1997, page 102] and Gwathmey Siegel [record, December 2001, page 92]. Now it is trying to add a cultural layer to an urban mix that had previously emphasized shopping and eating as the island nation’s primary spare-time activities.

Yeang’s competition entry pulled the building into two separate parts—a banana-shaped structure on the east for exhibition spaces and cultural activities and a blockier structure on the west that would house the library collections and reading rooms. A tall atrium or semienclosed “street” would run between the two pieces, with bridges at the upper levels connecting the two sides. By raising the collections block one story off the ground, Yeang created a covered plaza at ground level that offers a large, shaded space for an outdoor café and all kinds of public events, such as book fairs and dance performances.

Source: Architectural Record