Tampere Central Library (

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

: ''Tampereen kaupungin pääkirjasto'') is the main municipal library in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It is also known as ''Metso'' (' Capercaillie'), due to its resemblance to the bird, when viewed from above. The library is located along the Hämeenpuisto boulevard in the city centre.

Facilities

In addition to the main lending collection, the library houses a reference section and information service, children's and young adults' sections, newspaper reading room, music section as well as a small performance stage. There are also meeting, project work and exhibition spaces, public computer terminals, as well as a cafeteria, ''Cafe Metso''. The facilities are laid out over three floors. For a quarter of a century, the building was also home to the city's Moomin Museum, until its move to new premises in 2012.

Building

The library was designed by architects

Reima and Raili Pietilä Frans Reima Ilmari Pietilä (25 August 1923 – 26 August 1993) was a Finnish architect and theorist. He did most of his work together with his wife Raili Pietilä (Raili Inkeri Marjatta née Paatelainen, 15 August 1926 – 16 May 2021); after 19 ...

in the

organic architecture Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. This is achieved through design approaches that aim to be sympathetic and well-integrated with a site, so buildings, furn ...

style. The design contest was held in 1978, with the Pietiläs' proposal ''Soidinmenot'' ('

Lek mating A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate. A lek can also indicate an avail ...

') winning by unanimous decision. Inspired by the architects' visit to Ireland during the initial ideas phase, their design language was influenced by

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

patterns, animal shapes and

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

formations. The building exterior is made of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

, wiborgite, copper and glass. Construction began in 1983, and the library opened to the public in August 1986. A comprehensive renovation was carried out in 2015-2017, at a cost of over €11 million, to refurbish the facilities and bring them better in line with modern requirements.

Gallery

References

External links

* (in Finnish) {{Authority control Libraries in Finland Buildings and structures in Tampere Modernist architecture in Finland Organic architecture Library buildings completed in 1986

Facilities

Building

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links