36

DESIGN STATEMENT

Floating library

ILHA VERDE · MACAU

This project design is situated in Green Island at the north-west corner of the Macau Peninsula. It is called Green Island because it used to be an island with a green mount at its center, but it is now connected to Macau by landfill.

The selected site for this project is at the entrance of Green Island, located at a triangular plot between the social housing building and the University of Saint Joseph. The site is surrounded by a main road a small square and the waterfront.

This project is a public library building by the Green Island waterfront with the ambition to create a new centrality and gathering place for residents and visitors. The main reason to choose this program and site is a true belief that learning should not stop after school, and the ambition to encourage people to keep on learning during their lives. With this in mind, the public library is a great fit for this area and this waterfront site with an inspiring view, is its ideal location.

The building design follows a simple concept of hanging boxes to generate dynamic set of floating volumes at different heights connected by a continuous ramp. This volumetric composition generates visual permeability, void areas and transparency throughout the building making it inviting and iconic. It allows people to look through the building from different vantage points to see the waterfront, the different spaces and paths. By having many volumes of different height, its skeleton (structure) and organs (volumes) can be intentionally shown to the outside. This unusual openness of assuming the building's organs and skeleton, creates a striking contrast to the surroundings attracting passersby.

The floating library has a total of four floors, there are two spots where people can enter the library via the ramp system, the ramp goes up at one spot in a swirling way around the boxes and goes back down to exit at the other point. There is also other vertical circulation in the building with two staircases and elevators. Inside the library, there are many public programs such as, auditorium, coffee shop, retail store and study rooms ... etc.

This building is inspired by the green of the Green Island and contributes to this setting by offering abundant patches of accessible grass around the building and on top of each volume creating numerous green balconies where people relax, read and socialize close to nature.