Daegu Gosan Public Library - 1st Place Entry by Gorka Blas

We're very excited to finally also publish the winner of the first place in the Korean Daegu Gosan Public Library competition (previously on Bustler). As sole member of the team Gorka Blas, Spanish architect Gorka Blas Revilla took home the top honor with an ultra-minimalist cube and its careful integration in the urban context.

Project Description from Gorka Blas Revilla:

This proposal conceives the library as a cultural and social space for the local community. For this purpose the project focuses in obtaining a functional, attractive and confortable facility that constitutes an essential element for neighborhood´s everyday life.

In order to achieve this objective, the project translates the scale of the domestic space to a public facility, without lack of its public dimension.

The surrounding urban grid is composed by small residential buildings. The new library is planned to have a direct relationship with the environment in terms of scale, to be understood as a service for the community.

The total volume of the building is divided into eight parts, similar to the surrounding buildings scale. The modular volumes are raised from the ground level and the resulting parts are conceived as different rooms, although the space of the library is continuous and the plan is free.

The grouped volumes make the library spatially diverse and the scale of the library zones smaller. They also provide the rooms with different amount of light.

The cultural and educational facilities are located in the upper floors, directly accessible from the main entrance. The office is located under the library so it is completely functional and private.

The library is located in a public space surrounded by trees, so the building is placed in the center of the site in order to prevent the trees from being cut and to preserve the character of the existing public space.

Project Details:

Project Title: Daegu Gosan Public Library
Location: Daegu, South Korea
Award: 1st prize
Architect: Gorka Blas
Project Team: Gorka Blas Revilla (individual)

Find also drawings of the winning scheme in the image gallery below.