We have won a competition for a new library in the city of Galanta. The site is in direct contact with the park that surrounds the Esterházy manor. The existing L shaped building which is currently standing on it, has served as a farm building for the neighbouring manor and later on as a school. Due to its length, we perceive the building itself as a kind of barrier between the City park and the Park of the Slovak National Uprising, and currently does not allow them to communicate with each other. The main idea of our proposal is to preserve the perimeter walls of the existing building as a memory of the place and at the same time to use them as a "backdrop" for the new building. We place the new library building with a sufficient offset inside the original layout of the historical building like a matrioshka doll, creating small piazzetta in front of a new entrance to the library. The creation of the new passage hierarchizes the entire plot into 3 parts/lanes, each with a different associated function - a passage with a cafe and a piazzetta, a library building with greenery and trees, an entrance for employees and static traffic. In the northwest wing of the property, we propose a free-standing cafe with a sloping gable roof, in the place of the original farm building. The form of the house is a response to the dismantled sloping roof and is an attempt to get closer to the original character of the building and the roof. The new house consists of 3 above-ground floors and 1 partial underground floor. The main entrance to the library is situated from the piazzetta, which serves various purposes according to the current need - square, summer cinema, reading area, fountain etc.

Location: Galanta, Slovakia
Status: 1st prize in competition
Year: 2023 -
Plot area: 3340 m²
Surface area: 1225 m²