040 _ _MAR/APR 2019PGroundbreaker _Calgary Central Library _Calgary, Alberta
In the age of search engines and smartphones, what
do we need libraries for? According to architect
Craig Dykers of Snøhetta, we need them for the same
reasons we always have. “The library has existed for
thousands of years, and for much of that time, books
hadn’t even been invented as a way of storing know-
ledge,” Dykers says. “So we must understand that
books are not the only value a library has to offer; they
also have social value, as places to gather and
exchange knowledge.”
The space around us proved his point: Dykers and
I were standing in the vast atrium of the new Calgary
Central Library, which Snøhetta recently completed in
collaboration with Canadian firm DIALOG. A six-storey
wood-lined atrium and stair stretched above our
heads. “It grabs your attention immediately as you
walk in because it’s the first thing you see, with stairs
that spiral all the way up to the highest level of the
building,” Dykers says of the feature. “We wanted it to
be intuitive, so that you can understand the building’s
organization as soon as you walk in the door. The stairs
are about ascension and connection; they pull you
into the unknown.”
As a whole, the library serves that same goal, in a
practical sense, very well. The 22,297-square-metre
building provides a range of spaces, from a 232 -square-
metre indoor playground on a lower level to a dignified,
oak-panelled reading room at the top.
Collections and programs are geared to various
users, from small children – Calgary’s population ofCALGARY’S DAZZLING NEW URBAN
HUB REAFFIRMS THE WORTH OF
THE MODERN LIBRARY
WORDS _Alex Bozikovic
PHOTOGRAPHS _Michael GrimmBeyond
Book
Value