Municipal and State Library in Dortmund

Adopting the building lines and heights of its urban surroundings, the complex comprises an elongated tract clad in stone and a glazed semicircular volume facing the station. The two tracts are linked by bridges over the entrance area. The linear block has a reinforced concrete structure with red Swedish quartzite cladding. In the semicircular block, the floor slabs are supported by reinforced concrete columns and the façade by a boldly dimensioned steel framework. The striking impact made by this complex derives from the formal contrast between the two volumes, the urban siting and the interplay between calm rows of identical windows and the pattern of the stone slabs to the façades.