Originally built in 1897, the municipal library in Nembro, Italy was intended as a primary school, but went on to serve multiple purposes ranging from a town hall to a kindergarten and finally, a consulting room. To resolve the contingent state of abandon, the municipality turned the building into a library to provide the town with a facility dedicated to education and information of the residents.
The architectural character of the original structure, which was closed on three sides and the need for new spaces oriented the project towards adding a new wing that closes the only open side that once faced a courtyard.
Glazed Stoneware
The new building, connected via the basement, is separated from the existing structure on all sides, thus underscoring a difference that, in spite of the communicating plan, bears witness to a constructive and formal choice that establishes a dialectic contrast with the historical character of the original building – completely transparent, it is characterised by a surface made of terracotta elements measuring 40×40 centimetres, glazed in carmine red, supported by a structure made from coupled steel profiles.
This building technique has made it possible to screen and filter the sunlight. The choice of traditional cotto has been suggested precisely by the typical characteristics of the material, its performance as a screen protecting from light, and its link to traditional building methods, but also by the contemporary image created thanks to the assembly technique and its durability.
A large room with computers available for consulting is in the basement, which also provides access to the new building and its reading room that contains, in the manner of a casket, the precious books available for consulting; the triple height is exploited by two projecting mezzanines housing numerous reading desks, while the main study rooms are located on the ground and first floor of the old building.
Ceramic Piece
The sunscreen facade of the municipal library of Nembro is formed of a complex aggregate of technological elements that gives the building its unique appearance and regulates the illumination in the interior with a filtered effect of light and shade. The load-bearing structure in steel consists of cruciform pillars, each of which have been constructed by assembling four L-profiles welded to an internal platform, connected horizontally by circular-section tubes that have been wind-braced. Special steel brackets fasten this structure to the building inside and to the wall in tempered double-glazing with a central air chamber. The screen of glazed bricks is, on the contrary, fixed to the outside of the metal structure consisting of a succession of vertical metal bars placed at variable distances. It looks like a curtain of terracotta elements, which have been especially made by the tradition-rich kilns.
The square bricks manufactured by Sannini Impruneta that weigh 13kg each, feature extruded holes corresponding to their section in the shape of letters spelling the name ‘Nembro’ in addition to a star-shaped cavity through which the threaded bars supporting them pass, almost as if they were pearls threaded on a string. These elements are oriented in different directions and blocked-in position to prevent any movements due to the wind by means of a plastic bushing with fastening screws that also serve as separators.
Photographs: Pietro Savorelli
