National Library in Prague

The site for the National Library of Prague project was was a park that sits above the river on a large plateau, adjacent to Prague Castle. Used historically as a parade ground for military and for temporary events, it seemed incongruous to use up a corner of this park for a library. The question was how to place a library in a park, while maintaining the park.

Driven in the first instance by siting concerns, our proposal for the National Library eschewed notions of the building as ‘object’ and instead worked with the ground to create a series of unexpected spaces not included in the brief. Such third spaces – the parkland roofscape and an opening at ground level to the street where the archive containers can be encountered directly – embedded in the project in the city and enabled new experiences for all inhabitants.