This is the super library the public wanted. The City of Ottawa, Ottawa Public Library (OPL) and Library and Archives Canada on Thursday unveiled the long-awaited design for the $192. Promotional video provided by the City of Ottawa.
This is beautiful and has me extremely excited for the direction of Ottawa. It's clear the right values were in place for the design of this building. I am so excited to visit.
Looks like a lovely place to enjoy. Of course those large windows will need screens/curtains on the sunward side, or perhaps tinted glass. Looking forward to trying some of the workspaces.
Looks great, but I still don't love the location. It's a far walk from Pimisi Station. They should've built it right at the corner of Booth and Albert with a direct connection to the LRT station.
Ummm, did they forget parking? I didn't hear them once mention a parking lot either under the building or nearby. Seems pretty dumb to not have any parking. Other than that I'm all for this as long as they keep the "green roof" when it's built
Where is the parking? We know how well the LRT is working? And there are several buildings in the Ottawa area lacking adequate car parking and it just creates aggravation.
Actually many people do go to the library today. Main branch is always busy. I go at least twice per week. Wi-Fi and computers available for people unable to afford them, and there are many. Books available for those who cannot walk into Chapters or other stores to purchase. Movies available for the many unable to pay the soaring cost of cable or streaming services.
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING? A Library is a place to store books and knowledge. It is a place of learning NOT a dam art project. All you have is wasted space with dam little space for books. Do not make it look stunning, make it functional. This is going to another disaster like the Ingenium Centre. A place to small to do what it is designed for, but hey it looks pretty.
If people like you were in charge of the architectural design of Ottawa, absolutely no one would ever visit this damn city. Ahah. Tourism is an important source of a city's revenue, and Ottawa, if anything, looks too functional and lacking in art. Actually, if you want to make a 21st century library "functional" you should care about the way it looks and feels. You want it to draw people in, and inspire thinking and creativity. It is only a very small fraction of the population that doesn't care about that stuff.
Is it ever ugly. It’s going to look modern for two months once they’ve built it, then it will look dated. The current Ottawa public library downtown looked modern when they build it, today it looks like it was designed by a soviet architect that found LSD. Why couldn’t they go with something more timeless? The library in Vancouver is proof you don’t have to fall for all these modern trends.
What aspect of its design do you expect to look dated in two years? It looks natural enough to me that it's not too vulnerable to looking dated, much less in two years.
Fix peoples DEBTS first... u want to create a public library with all our taxes money and for what? Just to spend more money to go the library? Ottawa is broke.
It's covered in limestone, has a green roof, and large windows which are great for reading/studying by. It also matches up with our landscape and other architecture in Ottawa. It's good design, and good design is not boring, especially when it happens in Ottawa.
It's also not ostentatious or impractical, since similar designs in other cities have proven to be popular and productive gathering places for communities.
Libraries are changing to being a combination of technology use spaces, community gathering areas, as well as a place for books. My local library in Ottawa is still quite popular because they have developed it to be useful to almost everyone. It's actually a very good idea. There's many services like woodcutters, 3d printers, aid with electronics designs which are completely free. This kind of support is exceptionally rare and allows people without money the freedom to explore their interests, and perhaps even start their own businesses. They're slowly becoming kind of free universities to people who are self-driven and industrious. It's also key to develop places like this to develop the sense of community in Ottawa, which is lacking due to it being very much a government city. They are going in the right direction in this regard. Your concerns about the country bankrupting itself should be directed to its handling of Covid and the shutting down of small businesses.