Varna Library

This library is conceived as an open public space, fully accessible by all people and from different places in the city. The idea is based on experiencing the building with its spiraling succession of reading and learning areas in a vertically developed open space and the curiosity that it engenders. The ramp ensures smooth movement, fully integrating all the visitors – an attractive vertical exhibition with the potential to provoke both locals and tourists to experiment with different behaviors throughout this public urban environment. A provocative volume – an inclined tower – was chosen to communicate with the building of the Municipality of Varna as an impressive new element of the urban structure, providing at the same time shading of the N-S oriented reading area. In this way, the building responds to the main visitor flows out of the city center. The height of the tower allows for “reaching” from this inner part of the city to its primary landmark – the sea. The green roof of the lower volume meets the landscaping requirements and provides open areas for reading and play. This international competition for the Library of the City of Varna brought together the L6 studio team with architects Rumyana Garibska and Miroslav Zhelyazkov.