France Bevk Public Library

The city of Nova Gorica was constructed after WWII as a political response to the decision of the Allies to consign of the old city of Gorica to the Italian side when defining the new border between Italy and Yugoslavia. Edvard Ravnikar designed the master plan for the new city as a new quarter of the old city of Gorica. He streched one of the streets oved the new border into the new, modern grid in Slovenia. The city was never actually completed according to the original master plan, but since construction began in 1947 it has grown into a town of 20000 inhabitans.
The new library on Nova Gorica forms a part a part of the complex of public building around the main square, together with the monumental ocialist town hall and the postmodern theatre.
The main square is placed on the axis of the diagonal and the new grid of Nova Gorica. The building is conceived as a contact point between the urban structure and the natural environment. From the corner of the square it spreads towards the park on the back. The massive corner passes over into the thin wall covering the structure of the library behind.
Most of the books are openly accessed on the two floors of the lending library. The ground plan is open, with only the rooms of special departments standing in the middle like boxes. The wooden bookshelves separate the differently organized reading courts.
While the front faces the square as a regular, white platered geometrical volume the park side is designed as a curved glass membrane, sheltered with massive concrete slabs standing in front of them. This double storey working space where the interior merges with the greenery represents the most attractive part of the library scheme.