Santa Catarina Public Library in Florianopolis, Brazil

January 20, 2011 Category: Cultural, Public Buildings

The Santa Catarina Public Library in Florianopolis, Brazil, this project was designed by a collective group of individual architects from São Paulo, Brazil: Rafael Brych, João Paulo Payar, Matheus M.R. Alves and Ricardo Felipe Gonçalves. The Santa Catarina competition included the renovation of a former administrative building, to be adapted at a later date into a public library.

The final design includes a sequence of stairways, articulated through new areas of double height ceilings, obtained through meticulous subtractions of sectors of each floor slab. The result is a diagonal axis which allows the visual integration of the entire building from the ground floor access to the last new floor, transforming segregated areas into continuous spaces. At the top of the structure is a new roof terrace, occupied with reading areas and covered in red steel. Not only does this set the building apart from its neighbours, but it is aims to attract new users to the public library.

Santa Catarina Public Library Exterior