TU Delft Library

{{short description|Library in Delft, Netherlands}}

{{Infobox building

| name = TU Delft Library

| image = TU-Delft-Bibl-2.jpg

| image_alt =

| image_size =

| caption =

| map_type = Netherlands

| map_alt =

| map_caption = Location in The Netherlands

| altitude =

| building_type = Library

| architectural_style = Modernist

| structural_system =

| cost =

| owner = Delft University of Technology

| address = Prometheusplein 1

| location_town = Delft

| location_country = Netherlands

| coordinates = {{Coord|52|00|10|N|04|22|32|E|display=inline,title}}

| groundbreaking_date =

| start_date =

| completion_date = 1997

| opened_date =

| height =

| other_dimensions =

| floor_count =

| floor_area = {{convert|15000|m2|sqft}}

| grounds_area =

| architect = Erick van Egeraat
Francine Houben

| structural_engineer = Abt

| main_contractor =

| awards = National Steel Construction Prize
Dutch Steel Building Institute 1998
Award for the Millennium
Corus Construction 2000

| designations =

| rooms =

| website = https://www.tudelft.nl/library/

| embedded =

| references =

}}

The TU Delft Library is the main library of the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), located in Delft, Netherlands. It was designed by the Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo and built in 1997. It is the largest technical scientific library in the Netherlands.

Building

The library was designed in the early years of Mecanoo, whose founding members, Erick van Egeraat, Henk Döll, Francine Houben, Roelf Steenhuis and Chris de Weijer, were graduates of TU Delft.{{Cite web|last=Stevens|first=Philip|date=2014-12-17|title=interview with architect francine houben of mecanoo|url=https://www.designboom.com/architecture/francine-houben-mecanoo-interview-12-17-2014/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119061451/https://www.designboom.com/architecture/francine-houben-mecanoo-interview-12-17-2014/|archive-date=2021-01-19|access-date=2021-04-11|website=Designboom|language=en}} An example of a building that acts as landscape,{{Cite web|title=Het ontwerp|url=https://www.tudelft.nl/library/over-de-library/over-het-gebouw/het-ontwerp|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409114010/https://www.tudelft.nl/library/over-de-library/over-het-gebouw/het-ontwerp|archive-date=2021-04-09|access-date=2021-04-09|website=TU Delft|language=nl-NL}} the library is partially underground with a 15% sloped plane and a grass-covered green roof on top. Protruding from the artificial hill there is a {{convert|40|m|ft}} steel cone which acts as a source of daylight and is meant to symbolize technical engineering.{{Cite web|title=Library Delft University of Technology|url=https://www.mecanoo.nl/Projects/project/27/Library-Delft-University-of-Technology|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404171353/https://www.mecanoo.nl/Projects/project/27/Library-Delft-University-of-Technology|archive-date=2021-04-04|access-date=2021-04-11|website=Mecanoo|language=en-US}} Although a successful exterior element, the cone was more unsatisfactory in the interior and received some criticism in architectural reviews.{{Cite book|last=Campbell|first=James W.P.|title=The library: A world history|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-226-09281-2|location=Chicago|pages=284–285}} A series of columns distribute heat and light throughout the interior.{{Cite web|last=Michler|first=Andrew|date=7 March 2011|title=Mecanoo's TU Delft Library Crowned With a Massive Green Roof|url=https://inhabitat.com/mecanoos-tu-delft-library-crowned-with-a-massive-green-roof/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130050146/https://inhabitat.com/mecanoos-tu-delft-library-crowned-with-a-massive-green-roof/|archive-date=2020-11-30|access-date=2021-04-11|website=Inhabitat|language=en-US}} The green roof system by ZinCo Benelux uses a cellular glass insulation and a {{convert|6|in|cm|adj=on|order=flip}} substrate.{{Cite web|last=Velazquez|first=Linda|date=2012-01-11|title=GPW: Delft University of Technology Library|url=https://www.greenroofs.com/2012/01/11/gpw-delft-university-of-technology-library/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409110012/https://www.greenroofs.com/2012/01/11/gpw-delft-university-of-technology-library/#:~:text=Constructed%2520in%25201997%252C%2520Delft-based,that%2520sits%2520across%2520the%2520way.|archive-date=2021-04-09|access-date=2021-04-09|website=Greenroofs|language=en}} Together with the green roof and the insulation it provides, a reduced external wall surface improves the building's energy efficiency.{{Cite web|last=van Egeraat|first=Erick|date=|title=Library of Technical University|url=https://erickvanegeraat.com/project/library-of-technical-university/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928233948/https://erickvanegeraat.com/project/library-of-technical-university/|archive-date=2019-09-28|access-date=2021-04-11|website=Erick van Egeraat}} The roof is walkable and the students use it to sit and socialize during the summer, or as a sledding hill during the winter.{{Cite web|date=7 February 2021|title=Snow fun on the roof of the TU Delft Library|url=https://www.delta.tudelft.nl/article/snow-fun-roof-tu-delft-library|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207142139/https://www.delta.tudelft.nl/article/snow-fun-roof-tu-delft-library|archive-date=2021-02-07|access-date=2021-04-14|website=TU Delta|language=nl}}

In the central hall the lending desk occupies the space at the bottom of the cone, surrounded by steel struts,{{Cite book|last=Charleson|first=Andrew W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOO0VvMaO4cC&q=delft|title=Structure as architecture|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|isbn=978-1-136-36139-5|pages=90|language=en}} with the east wall covered by suspended steel-frame bookcases going up four floor and accessible via stairs.{{Cite web|last=Joosse|first=Martijn|date=2014-06-02|title=Bijzondere boekenplekken: Universiteitsbibliotheek TU Delft|url=https://mustreads.nl/bijzondere-boekenplekken-universiteitsbibliotheek-tu-delft/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140615030320/http://mustreads.nl/bijzondere-boekenplekken-universiteitsbibliotheek-tu-delft/|archive-date=2014-06-15|access-date=2021-04-13|website=Mustreads|language=nl}} The edge of the building is used for staff offices, with a fully glazed exterior window wall.{{Cite web|title=Central Library TU Delft|url=https://www.archiweb.cz/en/b/centralni-vedecka-knihovna-technicke-univerzity-v-delftu|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210413144507/https://www.archiweb.cz/en/b/centralni-vedecka-knihovna-technicke-univerzity-v-delftu|archive-date=2021-04-13|access-date=2021-04-13|website=Archiweb|language=en}} The library is located in the center of the campus next to the brutalist-style auditorium Aula, by Jo van den Broek and Jaap Bakema, providing a new spatial context to that building.{{Cite journal|last1=Heylighen|first1=Ann|last2=Neuckermans|first2=Herman|date=2000|title=DYNAMO: A dynamic architectural memory on-line|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30870787|journal=Educational Technology & Society|volume=3|issue=2|pages=86–95|issn=1436-4522}} The building received awards such as the Award for the Millennium, Corus Construction (2000), and has been selected as one of the most original and beautiful libraries in the world by Condé Nast Traveler and CNN Travel respectively.{{Cite web|last=González|first=Lidia|date=2018-02-07|title=Las bibliotecas modernas más alucinantes del mundo|url=https://www.traveler.es/viajes-urbanos/galerias/bibliotecas-modernas-arquitectura-diseno/1849/image/94570|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127012227/https://www.traveler.es/viajes-urbanos/galerias/bibliotecas-modernas-arquitectura-diseno/1849/image/94570|archive-date=2021-01-27|access-date=2021-04-12|website=Condé Nast Traveler|language=es}}

Collections and activities

The library is the university's central library and also includes a learning center, student workspace rooms, a bookshop and a café.{{Cite web|last1=Curvelo Magdaniel|first1=Flavia Teresa de Jesus|last2=den Heijer|first2=Alexandra|date=October 2017|title=International overview of the University Library as a central facility|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320347473|access-date=2021-04-11|website=ResearchGate|language=en}} As of 2017 it had a collection of more than 862,000 books, and 16,000 magazine subscriptions.{{Cite web|last=Sang-hee Han|first=Rachel|date=12 July 2017|title=7 of the world's most beautiful libraries|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/coolest-libraries-world/index.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404172558/https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/coolest-libraries-world/index.html|archive-date=2021-04-04|access-date=2021-04-07|website=CNN|language=en}} The TU Delft Library is a founding partner of DataCite, a global network established to "improve access to research data on the Internet".{{Cite web|last=Mullins|first=James L.|date=16 February 2010|title=Purdue Libraries a founding member of international cooperative to advance research|url=https://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/news/2010/02/16/purdue-libraries-a-founding-member-of-international-cooperative-to-advance-research/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121143131/http://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/news/2010/02/16/purdue-libraries-a-founding-member-of-international-cooperative-to-advance-research/|archive-date=21 January 2017|access-date=10 April 2021|website=Purdue University}} In 2017 the library started a data stewardship project focused on research data management.{{Cite journal|last1=Teperek|first1=Marta|last2=Cruz|first2=Maria J.|last3=Verbakel|first3=Ellen|last4=Böhmer|first4=Jasmin K.|last5=Dunning|first5=Alastair|date=2018-01-22|title=Data Stewardship – addressing disciplinary data management needs|url=https://osf.io/mjk9t/|journal=Open Science Framework|language=en|doi=10.17605/OSF.IO/MJK9T}}

Gallery

File:Library TUDelft.jpg|Cone during a winter sunset

File:Library Delft 6.jpg|Cone inside the library

File:Library Delft 7.jpg|Book wall and study desks

File:Library Delft 2.jpg|Outside of the library

References

{{Reflist|30em}}