Bc. Miroslav Malý – City Library in Přerov – prof. Ing.arch. Ivan Ruller

Place
The library is located in Přerov at the junction of the old town and new development, on the site of preserved city walls. It is a place of contradictory character. We are here in a historical structure, between the walls and at the same time in open spaces of the forecourt. A place where the old town shows its face through the walls and at the same time its back through the residential wings of its houses. A place between two pedestrian routes, where neither is a street. What is the back and what is the front, what is outside and what is inside. What should the building at this place be a part of, and what should it respond to.

Concept
The design occupies most of the area, bridging urban spaces of different characters – the building takes on the issue of the differences in the characters of the individual parts of the place and transforms it anew. On one hand, the building becomes a part of the surrounding urban structure and redefines it, while on the other hand, it creates a new world inside itself.

21st Century Library
A place for new impulses and ideas, a place for dialogue, meeting, and cultural events. A building that is open and lively. Equally a place of intimacy and silence, a place with the intimate atmosphere of earlier monastic or castle libraries. Flowing spaces for public selection and secluded corners. Spaces open to their surroundings and internal tranquil atriums. A library that is closed within itself and open to the outside, just as it is open within itself and closed on the outside.

Historical Trace
At first glance, it seems that the building interrupts the original structure of the walls. However, it merely preserves it within itself. The visitor to the library is thus freely led along the historical trace of medieval walls that manifest as the interior walls of rooms or the exterior walls of outdoor atriums.

Form
The form of the building and its external expression is a reflection of the interior. The diversity of the internal spaces is imprinted on the façade. A reader walking with a borrowed book flits by the window, through the glass wall of the internet café, greenery from the internal atrium emerges, the city wall as the backdrop for a passionate discussion on contemporary poetry.