New Birmingham library plans

[Old Boy]

Hi All,

I have a great admiration for Malala, what a brave young lady BUT I feel that her life is being put in danger by all this publicity. We know where she lives and what school she attends. She still has many enemies who, no doubt, are upset that their attack on her life failed. They do not need to travel from Afghanistan or wherever as they have friends and allies in this country. She should be hidden away given a new identity and allowed to live her life in peace. I do hope that I am worrying needlessly but we all know that the forces of evil are everywhere.

Old Boy

 

[Dave M]

Hi All,

I have a great admiration for Malala, what a brave young lady BUT I feel that her life is being put in danger by all this publicity. We know where she lives and what school she attends. She still has many enemies who, no doubt, are upset that their attack on her life failed. They do not need to travel from Afghanistan or wherever as they have friends and allies in this country. She should be hidden away given a new identity and allowed to live her life in peace. I do hope that I am worrying needlessly but we all know that the forces of evil are everywhere.

Old Boy

My thoughts also,,,,,,visited today, as said a lot of visitors, lifts busy, stairs ok if able. will sort out a few pics, excellent views.

 

[Dave M]

Mentioned by MWS, in the lobby, Broadcasting ?

 

[Dave M]

Busy here also, will wait for a quieter time.

 

[horsencart]

For some reason (not known) the library did not open till turned Ten O'clock there was a long Que, to see the Que and the view of Broad Street from the roof garden please go to https://www.flickr.com/photos/dofartshavelumps/9674246776/

 

[Dave M]

Floor 7 The Secret Garden

 

[Dave M]

Two more of the Garden

 

[aston lad]

I wonder how many of these people queuing up to see the new library will ever use it again....?, It will be a few more months before I will take a visit....

 

[Astonian]

Hi aston lad
I myself thought there would be lots of people gathering out side to get in and i myself will be going there in a month or two i think
when the stampede as finish it makes sense does nt it but today i am gong for the first time to the one we have recently openend afew months
here in worcestershire city ; they call t the hub but i have to say its not better looking than the birmingham one
it stands out like a sore thumb ' its painted all in gld [ bright ] but any way it does not matter to me i am going to swott up on my worc relies of yester years ; but i am very intrigue by the gardens they have put on the top of brums libary and i am looking foreward to he visit ;does any of our members still wear the badges i do wwhen i go ; best wishes Astonian;

 

[Vivienne14]

Good article from the FT. The new library has generated a lot of discussion, including this view which explores their function in today's world. Nice to see that the L of B has social spaces too. But I'll shhhhhhh while you read the article ...... Viv.

https://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/86263d94-10a0-11e3-b291-00144feabdc0.html

 

[mikejee]

Mr Heathcote seems to rejoice that the Seattle library' reading room was largely filled with homeless sleeping. Nothing wrong if they had been actually reading, or if a few tramps had gone there to get warm, but to think it is a good thing that the majority of inhabitants are sleeping seems to show he must be somewhat of a pratt.

 

[DavidGrain]

So what is new about the homeless in libraries. Many of our branch libraries had reading rooms where you could go to see the days newspapers which I can remember doing when I was looking for a job many years ago. Often many of chairs were occupied by men sleeping.

 

[DavidGrain]

Am I the only one who thinks the new library looks as if it was constructed out of Meccano. Then I found that the architects were named Mecanoo.

 

[mikejee]

I only noticed that today David. Not sure whether it was because I was just unobservant or (more likely) because they were keeping it hidden to reduce ridicule for a while. Apparently they were actually named after Meccano (!!), and it could be a lot worse - on their website they seem to be particularly pleased with the building(?) pictured at https://www.mecanoointernational.co...anguage/tabid/131/language/en-US/Default.aspx . At least the library doesn't look like a heap of parts of buildings thrown on a demolisher's scrapheap

 

[guilbert53]

At least the library doesn't look like a heap of parts of buildings thrown on a demolisher's scrapheap

Funnily enough that's what I think it DOES look like.

 

[DavidGrain]

Looking at the Mecanoo website, the video on this page shows some good fly throughs of the new library.
https://www.mecanoointernational.com/Filosofie/visie2/tabid/293/language/en-US/Default.aspx

The video shows that Francine Houben of Mecanoo also designed another building with circles so that must be her trademark. The internatiopnal Criminal Court design is marked as concept so perhaps that was not built. However she did design the Library in Delt which was built and picture are shown of that

 

[Vivienne14]

David, some impressive interior views of the library on that Mecanoo clip. Like the look of the interior arrangements. I guess it will take a while to find your way around as with most changes like these. I don't think I'll ever really like the exterior, but the architect makes an interesting point about the successful Delft library. The people could stay at home, but instead they choose to go to the library. I expect the L of B will become the same as the interior looks well worth exploring. I've always thought libraries have a unique atmosphere and this new one certainly promises to have that. Well I hope so. Viv.

 

[berniew]

The interior looks , and from reports , sounds a very good space but for the architect to say that people could stay at home but instead choose to go to the Delft library is the same as saying people can shop online but still go to Tesco , they don't go for the architecture surely

 

[Vivienne14]

Not the architecture Bernie (surely not in this case?!) but for the ambience. Now I'm going back many years to when I was very, very young and the local library ( Perry Common) was a great place to be. A refuge, a warm place, totally absorbing. Blimey, I sound like a very sad kid, but I loved it. Hopefully the new library will offer a good place for people to find that interest/relaxation/place to learn. Viv.

 

[brumgum]

Not the architecture Bernie (surely not in this case?!) but for the ambience. Now I'm going back many years to when I was very, very young and the local library ( Perry Common) was a great place to be. A refuge, a warm place, totally absorbing. Blimey, I sound like a very sad kid, but I loved it. Hopefully the new library will offer a good place for people to find that interest/relaxation/place to learn. Viv.

Perry Common recently had a refurb, i past it today actually..
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=Lib-Perry-Common%2FPageLayout&cid=1223334419611&pagename=BCC%2FCommon%2FWrapper%2FWrapper

 

[berniew]

Hi Viv I agree that the interior of a building has a bearing on the ambiance of a place but there are many more factors involved and it reads as though she is taking a lot more credit than is due to her , people go to libraries for lots of reasons , and as the last one proved , nothing to doe with the building . I am disappointed with the exterior but the interior has had really good reviews from what I've read so far . I will make an effort to get to the LoB in a few weeks when the crowds have died down a bit but I usually go to Yardley or Acocks Green normally for books . To be fair though her design has created a lot of interest I don't know how many people have gone to actually use the library so far and how many have just gone for a look around but there seems to be a decent crowd every day Bernie

 

[Charlie]

I hear the lift broke down yesterday. People trapped were given drinks while they sorted it out!
One of my worse nightmares.

 

[A Sparks]

I hear the lift broke down yesterday. People trapped were given drinks while they sorted it out!
One of my worse nightmares.

I had to smile when I saw it on the BBC website this morning (not about the people being stuck, only that it was the first day the lift was in operation)

You wouldn't get me in a glass lift in any case - I can't stand heights,

 

[Dave M]

Few pics from my visit on the 4th, I used the stairs the lift`s busy, the inside while on my first visit, passed the test. a lot of space, ( lost space ?)

 

[Dave M]

Few more from the 4th

 

[Dave M]

Last pics of the inside on the 4th Sept

 

[Vivienne14]

Well the architect's not getting an easy ride as far as the exterior's concerned!! People certainly seem to have very mixed feelings about the exterior design. But your photos Dave give a very good impression of the interior (excellent photos too). I think it looks great. Hopefully it's fit for purpose. I expect it will take quite a while to find things at first and there'll be a few teething problems. But definitely going on the list of places to visit.

Brumgum, thanks for the update on Perry Common Library. I doubt I'd recognise the inside now. But it was a very nicely designed library. The link you've attached is coming up with a 404 error message, so I've looked online. Seems impossible to attach a working link. But thanks. Viv.

 

[berniew]

The Interior looks good I don't think we will know how well it works for a few months when things settle down , smashing pics Dave

 

[DavidGrain]

Thanks for the pics Dave. Hope to have a look round in the next few days and next weekend I have a group of people coming from all over the country so I hope to be able to take them round. Didn't look as it there were too many people in when you took the photos so hope there are no crowds when I go

 

[A Sparks]

Great pictures, thank you.