Otepia (Kochi Cultural Complex)

摘要

Comprising1basement floor and 9 above-ground floors, Otepia is Japan's first library to be jointly built and operated by prefectural and municipal authorities (Kochi Prefecture and the city of Kochi). Located on a former elementary school site facing Otesuji Avenue that serves at the main venue for the local Sunday Market and Yosakoi festival, the library aims to encourage intellectual exchange through the medium of books. Of the approximately 2.1million books housed in its collection, the archive storage (1.7 million books approx.) that often tends to be closed off, is positioned in the center of the floor plan as a semi-open stack with structural braces incorporated between the shelves, The reading room is an open space with a ceiling height of two-stories. GRC louvers with a diamond-shaped section that are made to convey the texture of wood surround the walls in all directions, controlling the amount of natural light that filters into the building.