09 March 2007
Others
The Mayor of Bilbao, Iñaki Azkuna, and the Rector of the University of Deusto, Jaime Oraá, presented this project. Bilbao Town Council has partially contributed to financing it with a total of one million euros, as approved by the Council. In return, the University of Deusto will award Bilbao Town Council the title of Distinguished Patron , and will give its name either to the multifunctional room on the ground floor or to one of the reading or reference rooms; in addition, this Municipal institution will appear on the Patrons’ wall located on the outside of the library building.
This institutional agreement is framed within the wide range of actions carried out by Bilbao Town Council in the last few years, which seeks to consolidate Bilbao as a city of knowledge. The deep changes that this city has undergone have facilitated, among other things, the expansion of university campuses in the city centre, as in the case of the new library.
A dynamic and flexible library
The new Library of the University of Deusto is open to the university community, to researchers, and institutions and companies worldwide. It has been planned as a Resource Centre for Learning and Research (RCLR). It seeks to pursue pedagogical innovation, while at the same time offering a dynamic and flexible architectural environment, in accordance with the new European Space for Higher Education. In this regard, the open access facilities have been conceived as a space where users may find the best conditions for learning and research.
The building of the Library started in August 2005 and it is expected to be completed in Spring 2008. It is integrated into the Abandoibarra setting, facing the Guggenheim Museum. This location is highlighted in the reading rooms and the courtyard, which make the Library become one more element of the park.
The library, with a budget of 36 million euros for its building, will have the following layout:
- 5 floors above ground (10,000 m2): Reading rooms with 1,000 cubicles, group work rooms, offices for researchers, seminars, open access collection, a large periodicals section, a multimedia library and a Reference Room.
- 5 floors underground: Multifunctional Room, Cafeteria, Book collections and car park.
- Total area: 22,275 m2
- Book Collection: 800,000 volumes
- Architect: Rafael Moneo Vallés
Rafael Moneo Vallés
Rafael Moneo Vallés was born in Tudela (Navarra) in May 1937. In 1961, he graduated from the School of Architecture in Madrid. In 1970, he obtained the chair in Elements of Composition from the School of Architecture in Barcelona, and in 1980, he was in charge of that in Madrid until 1985, when he was appointed Chairman of the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where he held this position until 1990. At present, Rafael Moneo is Joseph Lluis Sert Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Design in Harvard.
Among his most outstanding works we should mention the Kursall Auditorium and Congress Centre in San Sebastian (1999), the Fine Arts Museum in Houston, Texas (2000), the Cathedral of Los Angeles (2002), the General Archive of Navarre in Pamplona (2003), the Gregorio Marañon Hospital in Madrid (2003) and the Aremberg Library at the Catholic University of Lovaine (2002). He is also carrying out the extension of the Prado Museum in Madrid (1998), a museum of Beulas Foundation in Huesca (1998), and the Museum of the Roman Theatre in Cartagena (2000).
Apart form Rafael Moneo’s work as an architect, he is also a lecturer and critic. He is co-founder of ‘Arquitecturas Bis’ magazine. Rafael Moneo’s articles have been published in many professional journals, and he has presented his work at exhibitions and conferences in institutions worldwide. Rafel Moneo’s career has made him worthy of many distinctions, among which we include several prizes, such as the Pritzker Prize for Architecture in 1996, and the Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects.
