A People’s Palace. The Library of Birmingham and Other Buildings for the Public

Oct 3, 2014 -- On Saturday October 18th, the exhibition “A People's Palace” will open at the Aedes Architecture Forum, Berlin. “A People's Palace” exhibits models and movies of recent public buildings by Mecanoo, including the Library of Birmingham. Aedes Architecture Forum, founded by Kristin Feireiss, is one of the most prominent international platforms for architecture and urban design.

Besides the Library of Birmingham, the municipal offices and train station in Delft, the Kaap Skill museum on Texel, the Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Performing Arts in Kaohsiung, and the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in Boston are among the projects which will be on display. Mecanoo’s founder and creative director, Francine Houben, believes that public buildings are the social and cultural heart of society: “Public buildings need public space and should be welcoming to everybody.”

The Library of Birmingham is the largest library in Europe, located at the city’s main Centenary Square. Mecanoo has designed a building that is inviting and inspiring for people of all ages and backgrounds - a real public building that also creates an outdoor public space. The circular amphitheatre embedded in the square reveals a glimpse of the inner library world to the public and sets the tone as a performance space. Standing high above the square, the rooftop gardens provide commanding views across the city. In the first year since its opening in September 2013 over 2.7 million have visited the Library of Birmingham. Today it is the place to be for community events, studying, working and meeting people.

Mecanoo, founded in Delft in 1984, is made up of a highly multidisciplinary staff of over 120 creative professionals from 25 nationalities and includes architects, interior designers, urban planners, landscape architects and architectural technicians. Over the past 30 years, Mecanoo’s multidisciplinary approach has resulted in a wide-ranging portfolio of designs that are executed with technical expertise and great attention to detail.

Francine Houben sees the office as a symphony orchestra, bringing together urbanism, landscape, architecture, restoration and interior design in a coherent way. The office has won numerous international awards. The Library of Birmingham has been nominated for the prestigious 2014 Stirling Prize. The Architects’ Journal named Francine Houben Woman Architect of the Year 2014.

A catalogue will be published.
More information.

Location Aedes am Pfefferberg, Christinenstr. 18-19, 10119 Berlin
Exhibition dates 19 October - 27 November 2014
Opening Saturday 18 October 2014, 6:30 pm
Opening hours Tues-Fri 11 am-6:30 pm, Sat-Sun 1-5 pm
Lecture by Francine Houben Saturday, 18 October, 4:00 pm

For additional questions and visual material:
Rogier Coopmans
Public relations
Mecanoo architecten
+31 15 279 8100
Email Contact  
www.mecanoo.nl

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