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September 2017.
Visiting properties taking part in London Open House 2017.
The London Library, founded in 1841, is one of the world's largest independent lending libraries.
The British Museum's Great Court.
Designed by Foster and Partners, engineered by Buro Happold and built by Waagner-Biro.
The first step in the recreation of the Great Court was the demolition of the undistinguished post-war buildings that served as bookstacks around the drum of the Reading Room. The southern portico, which was demolished to enlarge the Museum’s entrance hall in the 1870s, has been reinstated to a new design.
To allow the Great Court to be used no matter what the weather, it is covered with an undulating glazed roof. It has no visible supports to detract from the restoration of the classical facades around it. Instead it spans the gap between the facades and the drum of the Reading Room as a self-supporting structure.
The undulating, minimal steel latticework supports 3,312 unique triangular glass panels. Each one is different in size and shape because of the roof’s complex geometric form, which results from the fact that the Reading Room is not exactly in the centre of the Great Court, but is 5 metres closer to the northern portico. A specially written computer programme was required to work out the exact dimensions and angles of each panel, each of which has been sponsored by an individual or company.
[arquitecturaviva.com]
Supplementing the sustainable measures noted on the exterior image, the form of the building admits ample daylight while blocking the majority of direct sunlight. The lower Children’s bookstacks are all mobile for easy reconfiguration.
Kilton Library, Lebanon, NH
Honorable Mention, Library Journal, "New Landmark Library"
The Reading Room
The Reading Room stands at the heart of the Museum, in the center of the Great Court. Completed in 1857, it was hailed as one of the great sights of London and became a world-famous center of learning.
The Reading Room is currently closed.
Design
By the early 1850s, the British Museum Library needed a larger reading room.
Antonio Panizzi, the Keeper of Printed Books (1837–1856), had the idea of constructing a round room in the empty central courtyard of the Museum building.
Construction
With a design by Sydney Smirke (1798-1877), work on the Reading Room began in 1854. Three years later it was completed. Using cast iron, concrete, glass and the latest heating and ventilation systems, it was a masterpiece of mid-19th century technology.
The room had a diameter of 42.6m (140ft) and was inspired by the domed Pantheon in Rome. However, it isn’t a free-standing dome in the technical sense.
It has been constructed in segments on a cast-iron framework. The ceiling is suspended on cast iron struts hanging down from the frame and is made out of papier-mâché.
Many bookstacks were built surrounding the new Reading Room. They were made of iron to take the weight of the books and protect them against fire.
In all, they contained three miles (4.8km) of bookcases and 25 miles (40km) of shelves.
Early Years
The Reading Room opened on May 2, 1857. Between 8-16 May, the Library was opened up for a special one-off public viewing. More than 62,000 visitors came to marvel at the new building.
Those wanting to use it had to apply in writing and were issued a reader’s ticket by the Principal Librarian.
Among those granted tickets were: Karl Marx, Lenin (who signed in under the name Jacob Richter) and novelists such as Bram Stoker and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Restoration and Exhibition Space
In 1997 the books were moved to a new purpose-built building in St. Pancras and the bookstacks were taken down.
As part of the Great Court development the interior of the Reading Room was carefully restored. This process saw the papier mâché interior of the dome repaired and the original blue, cream and gold color scheme reinstated.
When it reopened in 2000, the Reading Room was made available to all Museum visitors for the first time.
It housed a modern information center, the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Center, and a collection of 25,000 books, catalogs and other printed material, which focused on the world cultures represented in the Museum.
The Reading Room was used for special exhibitions from 2007 until 2013.
12.30.2014: Since I'm running out of room for books (still - even with an eReader), I stack some of my craft books on a chair. The pile was getting taller and I was worried about the integrity of the chair, so I moved some of the heaviest books to the ground below. Now I'm ready to buy more books! Some of my favorites are ones that I get from Kinokuniya, the Japanese bookstore in SF.
Galaxy s5, PicsPlay Pro
God I've known him so long. If I was hot and brilliant I'd be far snootier than he is. I admire him ... so much. Even when he pisses me off.
<3 Leo
7.26.2014: I'm actually going to get more of these for my yarn organization. I have some bags of yarn that I want to condense.
Roidizer
The British Museum's Great Court.
Designed by Foster and Partners, engineered by Buro Happold and built by Waagner-Biro.
The first step in the recreation of the Great Court was the demolition of the undistinguished post-war buildings that served as bookstacks around the drum of the Reading Room. The southern portico, which was demolished to enlarge the Museum’s entrance hall in the 1870s, has been reinstated to a new design.
To allow the Great Court to be used no matter what the weather, it is covered with an undulating glazed roof. It has no visible supports to detract from the restoration of the classical facades around it. Instead it spans the gap between the facades and the drum of the Reading Room as a self-supporting structure.
The undulating, minimal steel latticework supports 3,312 unique triangular glass panels. Each one is different in size and shape because of the roof’s complex geometric form, which results from the fact that the Reading Room is not exactly in the centre of the Great Court, but is 5 metres closer to the northern portico. A specially written computer programme was required to work out the exact dimensions and angles of each panel, each of which has been sponsored by an individual or company.
[arquitecturaviva.com]