A talented young team of architects and designers
have come together to create ‘Rapana’,
a street library in the Bulgarian city of Varna. Passing members of the public are invited to pop in
and browse the library’s collection, momentarily removing the distraction of
their mobile phones. “Nowadays, young people’s lives are almost entirely based
around the digital era”, says Boyan Simeonov, one of the library’s creators.
“This decreases the popularity of books among this generation. We decided to do
what we can to partly solve this issue, by building a street library.”
The team chose Varna, a charming
coastal city on the east coast, as the setting for their project. “Varna is
located on the seaside, and is often called the ‘marine capital of Bulgaria’.
That’s the main reason why the chosen concept shape of the library resembles
the shell of a sea snail; the design was inspired by nature and its organic
shapes. The installation takes into consideration the most important aspects of
the city’s identity – the sea and its value to Varna’s citizens. The abstract
construction unravels from a single focal point and develops into a
semi-circle, while creating a public space and shelves for placing books at the
same time.”
The team experimented with
innovative technology when it came to building the library. “Rapana was
designed using the parametric design tools Rhinoceros 3D and Grasshopper, which
give architects the possibility of trying different shapes. Using the software,
the team tested over 20 variations, changing the number of vertical and
horizontal wooden pieces, as well as their width and height. We ended up with
the final design, fitting the budget and the open library’s concept, providing
easy access for the readers, sitting spaces, plus a tiny stage for street
artists and lounge sessions. The street library was built using 240 wooden
pieces and the full capacity of the library is 1500 books.”
Source : Facebook page of Rapana
Some more pics
Source : Facebook page of Rapana
Some more pics
