LIBRARY SETÚBAL
NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY IN SETÚBAL, PORTUGAL

CLIENT
City of Setubal, Portugal

SIZE
3170 m2

PROGRAM
Library, café, shops

BUDGET
€ 4,9 M VAT Ex.

ARCHITECTS
Itamar Krauss

LANDSCAPE DESIGNER
Christophe Gautrand

SCENOGRAPHY
Camille Duchemin

ASSIGNMENT
Complete

STATUS
Competition 2013

The future library of Setubal in Portugal is located in a changing urban context. At the crossroads of the historical old town and the developing port area, this area appears as a place undergoing major transition, yet now suffering from a lack of real unifying identity. Creating an amphitheater for cultural events located in the centre of the square, will be the initial step in the “renewal” process desired by the city. The library has now been completed, reinforcing the ambition to develop a new “strong” public program. Seeking to extend the urban intensity at the heart of the new building, our proposal is designed primarily as a forum open to the outside, a dynamic alter ego to the place. The extension of the amphitheater steps carved into the library structure leads to a web of empty interiors: places for exchanges and dissemination spatially structuring the volume. Its opaque part houses the different reading and storage spaces that appear as protected. A set of skylights lace its upper part, providing a carefully designed controlled lighting for reading.