Developer: Calgary Public Library, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation
Architect: Snøhetta
  
Address: 3 Street SE and 7 Avenue SE, Calgary
Category: Institutional
Status: CompleteCompletion: 2018
Height: ? ft / ? mStoreys: 6 storeys
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New Central Library | ?m | 6s | Calgary Library | Snøhetta

General rating of the project

  • Great

    Votes: 53 72.6%
  • Very Good

    Votes: 16 21.9%
  • Good

    Votes: 4 5.5%
  • So so

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Not Very Good

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Terrible

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    73
I'm not surprised it made the list. We've been watching the building as it gets built, and maybe have become desensitized to it. Sometimes we lose perspective of the building in comparison to other buildings getting built.
 
Anticipated being the key word...The watering down on the final product is very disappointing.
 
I'm not surprised it made the list. We've been watching the building as it gets built, and maybe have become desensitized to it. Sometimes we lose perspective of the building in comparison to other buildings getting built.

I agree. I honestly find the (mostly) finished product to be stunning. Yeah, more glass would have been nice, but I honestly don't find it to be that big of a deal. The only major loss I've identified is the loss of the convex-ish areas facing the East Village in the renders. What replaced them was certainly subpar by comparison, but is still beautiful.
 
I'm not surprised it made the list. We've been watching the building as it gets built, and maybe have become desensitized to it. Sometimes we lose perspective of the building in comparison to other buildings getting built.

I don't think so. I don't think we've become jaded. It simply doesn't live up to what was promised and shown in the article. It's still a solid building; beautiful even. A great addition. It just isn't nearly as exciting. I don't see anything wrong in thinking that either.

As for the list, It's a list of who's who. A list without Holl, OMA, Snohetta, Kengo Kuma and Nouvel just isn't a list. Johnson & Mark Lee are making names too.
 
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I kind of get the feeling that the list was based on renderings. Based on those, I definitely think the library belongs. Based on reality though, I find the project a lot less inspiring. I'm not one to fall for the mystical voodoo of renderings, but at no point of it's construction have I felt that it's matched expectations of what we thought it had the potential to be...a transformative piece of architecture for the city. It's turning out...nice.
 
I kind of get the feeling that the list was based on renderings. Based on those, I definitely think the library belongs. Based on reality though, I find the project a lot less inspiring. I'm not one to fall for the mystical voodoo of renderings, but at no point of it's construction have I felt that it's matched expectations of what we thought it had the potential to be...a transformative piece of architecture for the city. It's turning out...nice.

We haven't seen anything from what the interior looks like yet during construction. For me, it's that wooden arch/stairway entrance and the interior atrium that are the two killer features. I have only heard second-hand from a few friends that have done a tour of the inside. It's been described very, very positively. We shall see!
 

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Those interior shots are thus far the best it's looked to me.

Looks like the library is turning some heads.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-central-library-architectural-digest-1.4467699
One Canadian project made Architectural Digest's most anticipated buildings of 2018
Calgary's $245-million downtown Central Library made the list as one of 2018's 12 most anticipated buildings


The link to Architectrual digest's page
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/most-anticipated-buildings-of-2018

I'm kinda surprised that Telus Sky didn't also make the list ahead of it though. Most of the projects listed are smaller and more institutional so maybe that just wasn't their bag. The Veterans Memorial Museum in Columbus and the Design Museaum in Dundee look pretty freakin' cool too.
 
2019
 

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