As showcased on thecoolhunter.net: Marcel Breuer meets Zaha Hadid in a new library designed by King Roselli Architects for Rome’s Pontificial Lateran University. The library holds some 600,000 volumes primarily on the subjects of Philosophy, Theology, and Canon Law. The strikingly modern new library wing - commissioned by University Chancellor Msgr. Renato Fisichella - is intended to communicate the central role played by reading in a university environment.
Floors of book stacks are connected by sloping ramps that serve as reading rooms. The reading ramps are flooded with light thanks to dramatic cuts in the exterior facade of the building and a central light well.
Such a modern building may seem unusual in Rome, but over the course of the past few years King Roselli Architects have been helping update the Eterna’s image with sleek buildings like the Es Hotel (now the Radisson SAS Hotel) and the Ripa Hotel.
