New library and polyfunctional centre in Cantù | Studio Moscatelli

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The project of refurbishment of the Law Court aims to the creation of an innovative library model, not conceived as a book warehouse but as an urban magnet that might works as the new social and cultural point of reference for the city. 

The new building will allow not only to improve the capacity of the traditional spaces of the actual location in Piazza Marconi, with the new consultation rooms, the archive and the distribution area, but also to develop a new cultural offer through the creation of an auditorium, an exhibition area, a bar, even with association rooms, training and music rooms

The design approach is characterized by the research for a high quality design, the design of furniture and signage, maintaining an idea of economic sustainability of the intervention.

This aspect is developed both in the realisation phase, also thanks to the reuse of the existing furniture coming from the previous library, after a survey of the available materials, and in the use phase, thanks to an updating of the MEP systems, that allowed to include activities that are diversified and flexible in time, and in an energy-saving idea also in the long term.

The project was configured as a participated process, where the citizens were called since the beginning to make free proposal about the possible uses of the former Law Court building, and afterwards through a public vote to choose among three different hypothesis based on the requests of the previous consultation.

The solution that was chosen by the citizens was the second one, where we tried to develop a mediation between the spaces of the library and the activities non depending on the library. The archive has a capacity of almost 150.000 volumes, the study room is only on one level, on the underground floor we placed the association room, moving the mediatheque to the first floor.