Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart
- Frank Kaltenbach
From a distance, the radiant cubic form of the library in fine white concrete has a calm, restrained appearance. Passers- by strolling along the Konrad Adenauer Strasse to the roar of traffic must see this edifice as a bastion of peace. The urban highway, six lanes wide in part, is the cultural boulevard of the state capital of Baden Württemberg. Lined up here like a string of pearls are the opera house, the State Gallery, the Landtag (state parliament), the House of History, the New Palace and the City Museum in the Wilhelm Palais. The architects designed the extension to the State Library also in the form of a palazzo. By lengthening the avenue of trees in front of the structure and locating a restaurant at street level, what was formerly an inhospitable location has been transformed into an urbane promenade.
