Varna Public Library / by Karim Nader

A friendly landmark in evanescence.

A communal living room to hang out in with terraces you could call home.

Straightforward materials and subtle colors discreetly merging with the neighborhood.

A rigorous structure, open and flexible.

Giant windows with views to the black sea.

Lightness and Transparency are achieved through locating the library main storage as a podium thus raising the lobby floor 4m above ground. Now free from the opaque weight, the remaining library programs can float.

Exposed concrete slabs with wood ceilings, white cylindrical columns, full height glass enclosures, a patch-worked polycarbonate double skin on the boulevard and a striated concrete core make up the raw palette: open, light and generously lit.

But we also wish to create a colorful and spectacular garden.

On the ground floor, Ginkgo trees offer a bright yellow canopy. On the extended terraces of the reading rooms, acer trees and grasses offer shades ranging from bright yellows to deep purples.

Project Status: Competition Entry.

Project Team: Karim Nader with BLANKPAGE Architects. 

Landscape Design by Atelier Hamra.