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Situated within the reputed institutional campus of the Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru (IIMB), the footfall of the library had significantly dropped. The requirement was to revitalise the space, make it more competent technologically and increase relevance to the current needs of the Gen Y users.
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“Based on the growing needs of millennial students from a library, we coined down few definitions which we then translated into design: technologically versed repository of multi-format content, responding to the current needs entwined with the existing library fabric, facilitating flexible functions and catalysing interactions between the students, faculty and visitors,” explains V Vishwanath, founder & principal architect, Vishwannath Associates.
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Preserving the traditional functional requirements, the additional functions are seamlessly woven into the pre-existing strong library narrative using colours as a common thread. The element of colour has been introduced to functions like acoustics, AI intervention, pedestal for faculty works, comfortable seating etc. Discussion rooms, formal and informal reading, retiring zones, laptop bays, digital display areas, etc., offer softer, flexible spaces. The remodelled library respects and responds to the existing architectural expression of a heritage structure with comfort for the new India.
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Fact file
Name of the project: IIMB library
Area: 60,000 sq-ft
Location: Bengaluru
Design: Vishwannath Associates
Principal architect: V Vishwanath
