Architecture practice is revamping part of the historic library

Foster + Partners has unveiled designs for the revamp of part of the New York Public Library.

The project will double the public space in the complex鈥檚 Circulating [lending] Library.

Two new collections will be housed in a new space previously occupied by book stacks.

Lord Foster said: 鈥淲e are reasserting the Library鈥檚 main axis and its very special sequence of spaces, from the main Fifth Avenue entrance and the Astor Hall, through the Gottesman Hall, into the dramatic volume of the new circulating library, with views through to the park.

鈥淥ur design does not seek to alter the character of the building, which will remain unmistakably a library in its feel, in its details, materials, and lighting.

鈥淚t will remain a wonderful place to study. The parts that are currently inaccessible will be opened up, inviting the whole of the community - it is a strategy that reflects the principles of a free institution upon which the library was first founded.鈥�

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