Mecanoo designs Macau Central Library with light-filtering facade informed by books
Mecanoo has unveiled its design for Macau s new central library, which will have a gridded, light-filtering facade that opens up like a book to a public square.
The Macau Central Library will be built on the Tap Seac square in the historic centre of Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Its gridded facade was informed by the exterior of the former Hotel Estoril. The library will be located on the site of the modernist hotel, which was designed by Macau-born Portuguese architect, Alfredo Victor Jorge Álvares, in 1962.
Top: the Macau Central Library by Mecanoo. Above: the gridded facade unfolds above the main entrance
Macau Catholics defy pandemic for Lord Jesus festival
Procession dates back to 1708 when the Chinese territory was under Portuguese rule
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Catholics in Macau celebrated the traditional Lord Jesus festival despite constraints posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The festival on the first Saturday and Sunday of the Christian holy season of Lent garnered enthusiasm among hundreds of faithful, though it was less boisterous than in previous years.
The Diocese of Macau canceled the popular festival last year due to the coronavirus threat in the Chinese-ruled territory.
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Words by Ewa Effiom
In Taiwan’s oldest city and former capital, Tainan, Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo – in collaboration with local practice MAYU Architects – has completed a 37,000 sq m public library that is designed as a symbolic temple to the city’s culture. The library contains over a million books, in addition to music, films and modern art.
The building takes its design inspiration from the local vernacular. Its cantilevered roof subtly references from the 17th-century Tainan Confucian Temple in the city. The striking inverted ziggurat exterior is supported by what the architects refer to as ‘rhythmically placed quartets’ of columns, intended to be reminiscent of a bamboo forest.
Patterned aluminium panels wrap the stepped exterior of the Tainan Public Library, which Dutch studio Mecanoo and local office MAYU Architects have completed in southern Taiwan.
The 37,000-square-metre library, located in the city of Tainan, houses over a million books, alongside collections of music, films and modern art.
Its palatial, staggered form was designed by Mecanoo and MAYU Architects to pay homage to local vernacular, including the city s old temples with cantilevered roofs.
Above: Tainan Public Library references local temples. Top image: it has an inverted stepped form The oldest city in Taiwan, Tainan has a rich history influenced by different cultures, explained Mecanoo.
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