French studio Bruno Gaudin Architectes has completed a library clad in thin, grey bricks at the entrance to Paris Nanterre University.
Located in the town of Nanterre, west of the French capital, the brick-clad Contemporary International Resource Library marks the southern edge of the Paris Nanterre University campus.
The library was built on a triangular plot at the entrance to Paris Nanterre University
Occupying a triangular plot, the building comprises a pair of low-lying blocks that run along two sides of the site. An entrance hall is positioned at its main street-facing elevation.
Where the blocks meet, the library rises to three storeys as a colonnaded "wind tower", acting as a landmark for the library as well as a viewpoint that embraces and overlooks the urban landscape. Windows facing the garden have an irregular placement
"The contemporary project is part of a chaotic environment, it faces transport infrastructure: railroads and Bus tracks, it runs alongside large-scale buildings: the University of Nanterre, large buildings from the 1960s, imposing office blocks," Bruno Gaudin Architectes told Dezeen.
"From this, emerges a sort of lantern/colonnade, a wind tower that opens up to the urban landscape, and gives the public building its place in a horizon of large scale buildings."
The building's concrete structure is exposed through the interiors
The team clad the exterior of the building in long, thin, handmade bricks. They explained t...