Vicenza: A modern and lively complex: the design idea for the new Bertoliana was presented. Possamai: «It will be the beating heart of cultural activities»

The new Bertoliana Library will come to life within a modern and multifunctional complex, integrated into the urban fabric, alive and usable, which will rise on the site of the former Giuriolo school, which is scheduled for demolition. The new building will have as its beating heart a large covered courtyard, which will take light from above, developed on three floors; it will also have a basement, green spaces and numerous rooms for studying, reading and socializing. This is the project proposal identified by the council to give life to the new Bertoliana Library.

The hypothesis was presented at Palazzo Trissino by Flavio Albanese of the architectural firm Asa Studio Albanese, who was entrusted with the creation of the feasibility document of the project alternatives, together with the mayor Giacomo Possamai, the councilors Ilaria Fantin and Cristiano Spiller and the president of the Bertoliana Library Alberto Galla. Representatives of the Culture Forum also took part in the presentation of the proposal.

«The library increasingly as the beating heart of the city's culture: this is the idea behind the new project presented today for the Bertoliana of the future – underlined the mayor Giacomo Possamai -. Where the former Giuriolo school currently stands, in contra' Riale, a new building will be built with a large covered square and multifunctional spaces, from reading to music to audiovisual. The new Bertoliana will be at the center of the Vicenza of the future, which looks to young people, students, families and even the elderly. It is an ambitious project capable of responding to the many needs of the library and the city, for which I thank Asa Studio Albanese».

«It will be a library that will have at its heart a courtyard “lined” with books capable of communicating with all the floors. The complex will host various functions that can also exist independently of the library, responding to the needs of different users: from children to young adults to the elderly, including students and scholars.", has explained Flavio Albanese during the illustration of the project hypothesis. Councilors Ilaria Fantin and Cristiano Spiller and the president of the Library Alberto Galla emphasized the path, past and future, that characterizes the project of the new Bertoliana.

«The proposal presented is the result of a shared path with the Bertoliana Library, which starts from the library economics project, and listening to the cultural needs in the city: in fact, it is not just about books and reading but about many needs, also expressed by the Culture Forum, to which the proposal of Asa Studio Albanese gives an answer. We are therefore continuing on the path started by this administration: reclaiming spaces in the city starting from a choral collaboration", highlighted theCouncilor Ilaria Fantin.

«This is a large public work that represents a challenge for the administration and the offices but also for the entire city. It will be a "cultural island", reachable only on foot or by bike, in a sort of path that takes us away from the daily frenzy to take us to a place of study, knowledge and meeting.», commented the'councillor Cristiano Spiller.

«After the Teatro Comunale, this is the largest public work in the city. The path to its realization begins today with a call to citizens: the library is of the city and for the city. For this reason we will continue to involve the library world, culture and above all the users who use the Library, to create a flexible structure that meets the needs of our community", said the President Alberto Galla.

The design hypothesis

The new Bertoliana will be built on the site of the former Giuriolo school, which will be completely demolished. The complex that will be built will maintain the volumes and floor plan of the former school, adding only the roofing of the central courtyard. It will also be connected to Palazzo Cordellina, while Palazzo Costantini and San Giacomo will be decommissioned. The new Bertoliana Library it will integrate with the neighborhood and the city thanks to the opening of new entrances, becoming accessible from contra' Riale, from contra' Cornoleo and from stradella dei Stalli.

The complex will be equipped with an independent auditorium, a compact archive warehouse and the actual library structure. The entrance hall will give access to all the main activities on the ground floor: an auditorium with 130 seats, a large newspaper library, a generous children's and family space and a multipurpose room for exhibitions and meetings. Each of these spaces is connected to gardens and courtyards dedicated to reading and playing, which can be used by the entire city. The courtyard of Palazzo Cordellina also serves as direct access to the auditorium.

The heart of the project will be the new covered courtyard, destined to become the “public library” of the new headquarters: it is a large triple-height scenographic space. Also inhabited by plants and illuminated by the large sheds on the roof, the large balconies-reading rooms of the upper floors overlook it. Other functions will be located on the first floor, such as the audio-video room, a room for producing music, the fab-lab, the gaming space for young adults.

The second floor will be dedicated to scholars and historical works, with a room for manuscripts and rare volumes, a room for photographic heritage and one for consulting historical maps. The building will develop following a logic of progressive silence, with the more informal and shared environments on the lower levels and the quieter and more formal ones on the upper ones. The connection of the spaces was designed to make the library lively and usable even outside of opening hours.. The interiors of the new library complex will be characterized by white, used on all wall and ceiling surfaces.

As for the numbers, the complex thus hypothesized of the new Bertoliana Library will develop for 6.800 square meters, to which are added the 2.700 of Palazzo Cordellina, with which the new structure is in symbiosis, and courtyards and gardens for another 2.700 square meters. Its spaces will be able to accommodate a total of 832 people, including the 130 of the auditorium.

The volumes that can be hosted inside the library are a total of 798.000.: of these, 102.000 on open shelves, 27.000 photographic archive items, 75.000 volumes to be catalogued, which are located in the basement. The remaining 594.000 volumes will be placed in the compact shelving warehouse, distributed over three floors, which will also house approximately 4.000 linear meters of historical archive.