105 Eberswalde Technical School Library

The Eberswalde Senior Technical School is divided amongst a group of buildings constructed in the XIX century, although they differ considerably in size and style. They are on a roughly rectangular site with a beautiful, old layout of trees and a small river, the Schwärze. Before World War II, this idyllic place was an outstanding forestry training centre and now, at the end of the century, it is to recover its former importance.

The library extension and the new institute building are important items in the improvement process for the technical school infrastructure. The two corners of the landscaped block, still unbuilt, obliged the placement of the two new elements to be based on the existing urban structure with its free layout of different types of buildings.

The new library is a simple rectangular construction with three similar stories for free access libraries. The tables, chairs and shelves have a regular repetitive arrangement. A glazed landscape links this new construction to a historic building where the administration staff work and books are stored.

The exterior aspect of the building is reminiscent of a warehouse structure formed by three stacked containers. This effect is due to the wide glass grooves running around the façade which seem to separate the stories between them. The clear reflection-free daylight enters deeply into the building through these big slashes. The small rectangular apertures are arranged in accordance with the individual workplaces and essentially provide views and spatial orientation to the outside.

The prefabricated concrete panels are similar to the glass belts of the groove-windows, and are imprinted thanks to specialized experience in screen-printing. The basis for the motifs for the prints is photos discovered by the artist Thomas Ruff in magazines he accumulated over the years in his private collection. From this collection he selected the appropriate motifs and arranged them in the horizontal belts running around the façade. The imprint on the entire façade unifies the surface; the differences between concrete and glass seem to be annulled.

The construction of the building was delayed several times due to financial reasons and was finally realized on an extremely tight budget. Regretfully, the original suggestions and drawings from Herzog & de Meuron for the interior of the library were not used, so that furniture and materials were chosen on the basis of catalogues.
Herzog & de Meuron, 1996

Process

Silk screen foil and concrete are poured into moulds. The unset surfaces of the concrete are sprayed out.

Facade Motifs

The façade of the library as a tattooed image shell.

The inside of the library appears on the outside as the backdrop of the images.

Drawings

Team

Partners: Jacques Herzog; Pierre de Meuron; Harry Gugger
Project Team: Philippe Fürstenberger (Project Architect); Katsumi Darbellay; Stephan Eicher (Model); Susanne Kleinlein; Andreas Reuter; Yvonne Rudolf

Facts

In Collaboration With: Thomas Ruff (motifs for facade), Düsseldorf, Germany
Client: Land Brandenburg
Planning: Architect Planning: Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, Switzerland; Construction Management: Büro Schasler, Berlin, Germany; Construction Management: Andreas Mayer-Winderlich, Berlin, Germany; HVAC Engineering: Dörner + Partner, Eberswalde, Germany; Plumbing Engineering: Dörner + Partner, Eberswalde, Germany; Electrical Engineering: Penke & Partner, Berlin, Germany; Structural Engineering: GSE Ingenieur-Gesellschaft mbH Saar, Enseleit und Partner, Berlin, Germany
Specialist / Consulting: Acoustics Consulting: Rahn Ingenieurbüro, Berlin, Germany; Acoustic Consulting: BesB, Berlin, Germany; Building Physics Consulting: Rahn Ingenieurbüro, Berlin, Germany; Building Physics Consulting: BesB, Berlin, Germany; Facade Consulting: Ingenieurbüro Ludwig + Mayer, Berlin, Germany
Building Data: Gross floor area (GFA): 16'188 sqft, 1'504 sqm; Footprint: 5'457 sqft, 507 sqm; Gross volume (GV): 264'507 cbft, 7'490 cbm
Links: www.hnee.de

Bibliography

Gerhard Mack, Herzog & de Meuron: “Herzog & de Meuron 1992-1996. The Complete Works. Volume 3.” Edited by: Gerhard Mack. Chinese ed. Beijing, China Architecture & Building Press, 2010. Vol. No. 3.

Luis Fernández-Galiano (Ed.): “Arquitectura Viva. Herzog & de Meuron 1978-2007.” 2nd rev. ed. Madrid, Arquitectura Viva, 2007.

Fernando Márquez Cecilia, Richard Levene (Eds.): “El Croquis. Herzog & de Meuron 1981-2000. Between the Face and the Landscape. The Cunning of Cosmetics. Entre el Rostro y el Paisaje. La Astucia de la Cosmética.” 2nd adv. and rev. ed. Vol. No. 60+84, Madrid, El Croquis, 2005.

Nobuyuki Yoshida (Ed.): “Architecture and Urbanism. Herzog & de Meuron 1978-2002.” Tokyo, A+U Publishing Co., Ltd., 02.2002.

“Herzog & de Meuron. Natural History.” Edited by: Philip Ursprung. Exh. Cat. “Herzog & de Meuron. Archaeology of the Mind.” Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. 23 October 2002 – 6 April 2003. 2nd ed. Baden, Lars Müller, 2005.

Herzog & de Meuron: “Herzog & de Meuron. Thomas Ruff. Bibliothek der Fachhochschule Eberswalde.” In: António de Campos Rosado (Ed.). “Co-Laborações. Co-Laboraciones. Arquitectos – Artistas.” Exh. Cat. Co-Laborações: Arquitectos / Artistas. Sala Jorge Vieira, Lisbon, Portugal. 6 December 2000 – 4 March 2001. Lisbon, Parque Expo ’98, S.A., 2000. pp. 41-55.

Raymund Ryan: “The Eberswalde Chronicle.” In: Nobuyuki Yoshida (Ed.). “Architecture and Urbanism. Feature: Images of Glass I.” Vol. No. 352, Tokyo, A+U Publishing Co., Ltd., 03.2000. pp. 44-49.

Gerhard Mack, Valeria Liebermann: “Eberswalde Library. Herzog & de Meuron.” Edited by: Pamela Johnston. London, Architectural Association, 2000. (= Architecture Landscape Urbanism 3).

Herzog & de Meuron: “Ornament. Ricola Europe SA., Sportanlage Pfaffenholz, Bibliothek der Fachhochschulen Eberswalde, Griechisch-Orthodoxe Kirche in Zürich, Zwei Bibliotheken für den Campus von Jussieu.” In: Marc Fester, Sabine Kraft, Nikolaus Kuhnert (Eds.) et al. “Archplus. Herzog & de Meuron. Minimalismus und Ornament.” Vol. No. 129/130, Aachen, ARCH+ Verlag GmbH, 12.1995. pp. 25-56.

Jacques Herzog, Yvonne Volkart: “Herzog & de Meuron. Giving a Glow to a given Place.” In: Helena Kontova, Giancarlo Politi (Eds.). “Flash Art International. The World’s Leading Art Magazine.” Vol. No. 28/185, Milan, Giancarlo Politi Editore S.A.S., 11.1995. pp. 70-72.