Regional Library of Saxony – State library and Dresden University library
This new library is one of the biggest of its kind in Europe – it brings together in one place the holdings of the state library of Saxony and the library of the University of Dresden. Integrating such a large building volume into the park-like setting of a former sports ground, without detracting from the wide open spaces, entailed accommodating the core functions on three subterranean levels. The only structures visible above the lawns are two slim cuboid towers housing facilities such as a cafeteria and storerooms. In the same plane as the lawns, horizontal glass surfaces glint like pools of water in formal palace gardens. These are the rooflights of the reading rooms below. Access to the building is under a colonnade on the main front of the westernmost building. A segment of the old running track is made use of here, to mark out the recessed entrance courtyard. From the foyer the visitor descends via a single-flight staircase below a rooflight into an underground world of galleries, columns and walkways, at the heart of which is the main reading room.
