Tatarstan National Library
Erick van Egeraat

Photo courtesy Erick van Egeraat

Resembling an open book, the library's two main towers give a face to the previously undefined space.

The Tatarstan National Library, situated on a hill adjacent to a large square, is not merely the home to Tatarstan's most comprehensive collection of books but, unlike traditional state libraries, the building stands out through its openness to the public.


Photo courtesy Erick van Egeraat

The entrance to the library, an 18 meter high light and airy atrium, is the library's portal to the city and a continuation of the new square into the building.


Photo courtesy Erick van Egeraat

Situated between the actual library and the city, the entrance hall is a universe on its own, a place where the collective and cultural qualities of downtown spaces are combined. The entrance space can be gallery, living room, park, boulevard, meeting point, education room or garden at the same time.


Photo courtesy Erick van Egeraat

The atrium is also a metaphorical bridge between the outside and the inside, the city and the library, the lively public domain and the calm retreat of knowledge.

Behind the towers and the entrance hall, two rows of building volumes continue the slope of the landscape. In between the rows, a park-like path is slowly ascending on the roof of the building.

Parts of the library are entirely embedded into the hill, others are provided with daylight via courtyards.


Photo courtesy Erick van Egeraat

Besides offering all traditional facilities of a state library the building, with its flexible set-up, will provide a home for all modern ways of accessing information and working with knowledge.