Hume's Craigieburn Library (near Canberra, in Australia) was named the best (new) library of 2014. It is an architectural prize inaugurated this year and awarded by the Danish Culture Agency.
What they were looking for were public libraries that looked to the future, where digital evolution and traditional local culture were incorporated, and that had an open and functional architectural expression, in balance with their surroundings.
What they were looking for were public libraries that looked to the future, where digital evolution and traditional local culture were incorporated, and that had an open and functional architectural expression, in balance with their surroundings.
And why did this library win?
"For being a modern construction with character and having a strong and recognizable architectural concept ... And for creating, thanks to its open and flexible space, a democratic meeting place, open to diversity and interaction".
They also positively assessed their horizontal shapes, which refer to the Australian landscape, the fact that it is oriented to avoid the great heat characteristic of the area or the use of traditional materials such as adobe.
The building, designed by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, is actually much more than a library, it is a real meeting place for the citizens of Hume, and includes art gallery, cafeteria, computer courses and meeting rooms.