Aveiro Library

Alvaro Siza Vieira – Extension of the university campus, Aveiro Library – Aveiro, Portugal, 1988

The university library was designed by the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira. Siza says that the conceptual idea is based on the geometry of the saline solution. "Here, there is the origin of the architecture of the Library, of its deployment, of the horizontal openings, of the volume and of the light that invades the interior."

The library plays a central role in organizing the university campus located on the edge of the city of Aveiro. A curved self-supporting wall characterizes the western façade and the reinforced concrete structure of the building is explicit.

This shielding allows only the reflected light to enter, while a continuous horizontal cut at the third level ensures a visual connection for users seated on the marshes that extend to the horizon.

All the electrical and air conditioning services are integrated in the perimeter shelving system of each floor, allowing the free and spatially continuous ceilings to be left with the vertical voids that pass through the interior spaces. This configuration also allows the spatial continuity of the double curvature of the ceiling on the upper floor.