Typology # Rotunda

The circular reading room, crowned with a dome. It is a neoclassical typology, which has been used extensively from the eighteenth century to the present. It has led to many iconic libraries. But this strict geometry was not only a source of inspiration for library buildings.

Oxford Radcliffe Camera - James Gibbs
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(University of Virginia) - Thomas Jefferson
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Finland National Library - Gustaf Nyström
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Stockholm Public Library - Eric Gunnar Asplund
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Panopticum - Jeremy Bentham

The Library represents, maybe with the prison, the last of the uncontested moral universes: communal accommodations for 'good' (or necessary) activities… The moral goodness of the Library is intimately connected to the value of the book: the Library is its fortress, librarians are its guardians…
OMA - concept book Public Library Seattle | 1999

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MINISTRY OF IMAGINATION

The Ministry of Imagination is a collective of creative thinkers and doers who use their imagination and complementary skills and talents to help libraries and other cultural institutions realize their plans for the future.

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Oxford Radcliffe Camera - James Gibbs

(University of Virginia) - Thomas Jefferson

Finland National Library - Gustaf Nyström

Stockholm Public Library - Eric Gunnar Asplund

Panopticum - Jeremy Bentham

Birmingham Public Library - Mecanoo

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