HABITABLE
DESIGN / ARCHITECTURE / ART


CHILDREN’S LIBRARY: A World of Imagination and Wonder
Pinocchio Children’s Library Competion, Collodi, Italy (2018)

The Children’s Library creates an experiential environment that unfolds like origami from the paper factory. Two doors open to a world of imagination and wonder, like a big, secret garden. Just as Pinocchio lives his adventures from his home to school, our library offers several journeys on a path from Via Benvenuto Pasquienilli (west) to Via delle Cartiere (east). Inside, the visitor moves through spaces that go from areas of playing to learning and creating three levels of sound: noise (jubilee), vibration and silence.
Origami implies a way of designing as choreography between interior and exterior. The paper factory “produces” the entire building that unfolds like a three-dimensional children’s book.

Noise zones are arranged to the south, while reading areas are to the north, taking advantage of natural light. All circulation areas are exterior, constructed from light materials to encourage light penetration and visual translucency, extending the reach of patio life. The astonishment comes from the changes in scale.
There are “flying houses” and a tower. As one moves through the library, the structure breaks up and the journeys multiply. It creates a sensorial environment of hidden spaces and unevenness. The astonishment comes from the changes in scale.
The Children’s Library converses with Collodi and contributes with its iconic and genuine image. The new tower of the library speaks to the medieval tower while giving a nod to the church. A garden-bridge crosses the river, and the building itself acts as a bridge that also crosses the river, giving the explorer a sense of the unexpected.
The 'hortus ludi': a Medieval walled garden combining a grassy and shaded pleasure area with an herb garden, illumination from a 15th-century French manuscript of the Roman de la rose.
The roof of the library is designed to be enjoye from the baroque villa and the medieval part of Collodi located on a hill.






Project team: Marta Rodriguez + Tuan Mai + Ghazal Saliman,
CONTACT
info@habitable.studio
t. (+1) 530 507 8896