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The folks at Snøhetta—the international architecture, landscape and interior design firm responsible for the beautiful new public park at 550 Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan—are at it again, this time revealing the design for the new Westchester Square Library in the Bronx.
The 12,000-square-foot, futuristic-looking project is being developed alongside the New York Public Library and the city's own Department of Design and Construction. The renderings, which were just released, have already caught everyone's attention.
"Designed as a prismatic reading room lifted on a board-formed concrete base, the library's fritted glass facades are inspired by the Bronx's status as the 'greenest borough of New York City' and depict abstract views of the borough's tree canopies," reads an official description of the building, which is found right next to the neighborhood's Huntington Free Library, a non-circulating destination that predates the New York Public Library by a good four years.
The Westchester Square Library's green facade, which will shine especially bright at night, has a specific function as well: the pattern will filter incoming sunlight in an effort to reduce the structure's energy use.
Inside, patrons will get to explore new children-centered areas, classroom and community rooms and a novel viewing garden located at street level that, according to an official description, "doubles as a water retention and filtration installation." Snøhetta has clearly set out to build something as environmentally friendly as it is visually and structurally striking.
Speaking of: the library will be part of the Department of Design and Construction's new 80x50 initiative, seeking to reduce the city's carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. Pretty awesome stuff.
Timing wise, construction is expected to kick off this year and to be completed by 2025.