Philological library of the Free University of Berlin
| Philological library of the Free University of Berlin | |
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 Building entrance of the Philological Library
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| founding | 2005 |
| Library type | Specialized library |
| place | Berlin |
| ISIL | DE-188-920 |
| operator | Free University of Berlin |
| Website | fu-berlin.de/bibliothek/philbib |
The Philological Library is a scientific library of the Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin). The focus of the collection is on philologies , i.e. linguistics and literary studies. The library building in the Berlin district of Dahlem was designed by Norman Foster and opened in 2005.
Collection profile
The library comprises the holdings of the previously independent philological institute libraries and the former library of the Institute for Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Humanities as well as other institutes of the Free University of Berlin. Until 2005, these were located in several separate locations. They were united for the first time through the Philological Library. In 2005, the library's holdings comprised a total of 750,000 books in the areas of linguistics and literary studies as well as subscriptions to around 700 newspapers and magazines . It is divided into the following departments according to the former specialist libraries :
- General and Comparative Literature Studies , Comparative Linguistics
- Ancient American and Latin American Studies ,
- English studies ,
- Byzantine and Neo-Greek Studies ,
- German Studies ,
- Indo-European Studies ,
- Indology ,
- Classical Philology ,
- Middle Latin ,
- Dutch Studies ,
- Philosophy (since 2007),
- Romance Studies ,
- Slavic Studies .
With 175,000 volumes, the holdings of the Germanic branch library is the largest in Germany, the Dutch with 40,000 volumes the second largest collection. English and Romance studies also form large departments, the latter with over 145,000 volumes. Further important special collections can be found, among other things, on Catalan linguistics and literary studies and Canadian French- language literature . But smaller philologies such as the Galician language also have extensive holdings; and the modern Greek collection is also the largest in Germany with 24,000 volumes.
On the other hand, American studies is not represented in the library . He is still at the nearby John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies .
Usage situation
The library is a reference library with limited lending. 98 percent of the books are freely accessible and do not have to be pre-ordered. Only particularly rare or valuable specimens, e.g. B. Incunabula can only be viewed on request. The philological library has 658 reading spaces on five levels and is fully equipped with WiFi . 94 Internet research terminals and 14 PC pool workstations complete the offer. All terminals are connected to the library's digital printing and scanning system, which enables the user, for a fee, not only to copy book pages as before , but also to scan them and process them using multimedia . The library is open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The library is part of the library system of the FU Berlin, which is the largest of all German universities with a media inventory of around 8.5 million volumes and 20,000 current journals.
architecture
The new building of the philological library went hand in hand with the renovation and reconstruction of an existing building complex, the so-called "rust" and "silver arbor". This building, designed by the team of architects Team 10 , consists of an extensive polycentric structure made up of various modular sub-buildings. Two to three-storey structures are grouped around a large number of green inner courtyards. The new library was built into this existing building ensemble as an almost completely free-standing solitaire. To create space for this, it was necessary to merge six inner courtyards of the rust arbor.
The British architect and designer Norman Foster won the 1997 expert competition for the building project, which was put out to public tender by the State of Berlin and the Free University of Berlin. The asbestos removal from the rust and silver arbor started in 1999, construction of the library began in 2001. It was completed in 2005 after four years of construction, while the renovation of individual old building areas continued into 2007. The “Brain” is currently still in need of renovation because of the leaky outer shell. Originally, Foster's design for the installation of the Philological Library envisaged a building over the newly created inner courtyard, the structure of which was to be based on the existing structure. Curved glass surfaces were planned, which were supposed to adapt as closely as possible to the adjoining old parts of the "rust bower" by means of a transparent, light and filigree roof structure made of steel and glass, especially in height. Similar to the Berlin Reichstag building, however , the renowned architect had to revise his original design several times for cost reasons, which led to a completely different concept and the building in its current form, which stylistically belongs to the trend of blob architecture . Despite multiple renovations, the rain permeability of the outer shell is still a weak point in the structure.
The library now consists of a compact, multi-storey reinforced concrete building with two supply cores. This "inner building structure" is spanned by a self -supporting dome-like building shell without being touched by it: The outer shell of the double-shell construction is made up of closed and transparent panels . This change of aluminum segments , ventilation elements and double-glazed panes is supported by a hidden steel frame construction . It is barely visible as a supporting framework between the outer and inner shell.
In aerial photographs and from a bird's eye view , the outer shape is reminiscent of a voluminous, gently curved, silvery, shiny drop that fell into the inner courtyard and is only connected to the rust arbor in two small places. Overall, the building measures 64 meters in length, 19 meters in height and 55 meters in width. The main usable area is 6290 m², the storage capacity 800,000 books.
Foster designed the inner shell from fiberglass fabric with transparent partial surfaces. The latter allow brief glimpses outwards and into the sky. Otherwise, these white fabric membranes, divided into segments, filter the sunlight in accordance with the lighting design and create a bright working atmosphere inside. There, the two supply cores accommodate the stairwells, lifts , sanitary facilities and technical facilities. Around this center, the individual building levels that can be walked around are grouped on top of one another and taper towards the top, similar to a free-standing tier . However, the base areas of the levels are not evenly circular : the edges are curved and describe the shape of waves or serpentines . With this, the architect achieved a considerable increase in the length of the edges and, at the same time, increased the number of reading places, which are still not available in sufficient quantities, because they are arranged on the edge zones: A long “work table band” follows the parapet at the edge of each Level along. The individual workstation is equipped with a reading lamp, sockets and a chair, the model of which was designed by the architect and furniture designer Egon Eiermann . The books are kept in anthracite-colored steel shelves in the center of the library - grouped around the supply cores and reaching to the edge zones. On the top level there is a reading lounge with large red armchairs. Otherwise everything that could disturb a concentrated working atmosphere has been banned from the library: The library administration, seminar and group work rooms are located in the old building, which can be reached via an underground tunnel, even the installation of walls was dispensed with, so that the Compliance with the quiet, which is important for the working atmosphere, is always strictly observed, even when unlocking and locking the lockers, which are sparingly sized in relation to the size of the library, in the also open entrance area.
All floors are cut in the middle, creating a symmetrical central axis with atrium , at the end of which is the entrance area, or an open staircase opposite it. While the building looks futuristic overall due to its shape and color, there is a bizarre contrast in some places: both the panels at the entrance and the space framework of the building envelope, which is only visible in some places, are in yellow-orange. With this, Norman Foster wanted to create a connection to the rust and silver arbor, which also has a color at certain points ( sun awnings and carpets ).
Even before its opening, the building was known as the "Berlin Brain" ( English ): Because of its characteristic, round arched shape of its outer shell and folded into two hemispheres arranged building levels inside resembles the architecture of the anatomy of a human brain, that of his The skullcap is surrounded and protected. In Berlin, the Philological Library is the second building project carried out by Norman Foster alongside the Reichstag building. With its implementation, he has created another attraction whose unusual architecture attracts many visitors.
Construction error - water damage due to leaky dome
Despite many awards and visitors interested in architecture, the rain permeability of the roof represented a weak point in the building's function as a library for a long time. The construction supervision company, who was responsible for the construction of the outer shell, were found to have errors in execution. However, the problem has now been resolved.
Prizes and awards
In November 2006 the Philological Library was awarded the “Berlin Architecture Prize ” from the Berlin State Association in the Association of German Architects . The prize, which is awarded every three years, went jointly to the London architecture firm Foster and Partners as well as to the Free University of Berlin and the State of Berlin as clients. Furthermore, in August 2007 the library received one of the awards for the German Architecture Prize 2007 . This award is considered the most prestigious of its kind.
"Land of Ideas" initiative
For the 2006 soccer World Cup , the Philological Library was selected by FC Deutschland GmbH to take part in the “ Germany - Land of Ideas ” initiative. Under the title Explore "The Berlin Brain" , guided tours, readings and scientific lectures were held in the library on April 11, 2006, with scientists reading poems. The variety of topics covered all subject areas of the library and led from world literature in the age of globalization to the library of Alexandria as the mother of all academic libraries to football in Latin America. In the evening, the play The Uprising by CJ Hopkins had its world premiere.
See also
- University library of the Free University of Berlin
- Universities and research institutions in Berlin
literature
- Bernd Hettlage, Florian Bolk: Philological library of the Free University of Berlin. Stadtwandel-Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-937123-59-8 ( The new architecture guide 77).
- Doris Kleilein: Implant. Philological library of the Free University in Berlin-Dahlem. In: Bauwelt. Vol. 96, No. 34, September 2, 2005, ISSN 0005-6855 , pp. 13–36 (Also as a special edition for the Free University of Berlin. Bauverlag, Gütersloh 2005).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Laurence Thio: The FU ships it into the brain. In: the daily newspaper . June 3, 2012, accessed May 5, 2015 .
- ^ Anja Kühne: Hochschulbau: The Berlin universities are missing two billion euros. In: Der Tagesspiegel . August 5, 2013, accessed May 5, 2015 .
- ↑ Christiane Christiansen: Philological Library of the Free University of Berlin: Here, too, structural breakdowns. June 4, 2012, accessed May 5, 2015 .
- ↑ Philological Library of the Free University of Berlin. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 21, 2015 ; Retrieved July 18, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ CJ Hopkins. Retrieved July 18, 2015 .
Coordinates: 52 ° 27 ′ 7 ″ N , 13 ° 17 ′ 18 ″ E