Tatarstan National Library / Erick van Egeraat

Erick van Egeraat has won the international competition for the design of the new National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan, in Russia. This building will be located in the capital city, Kazan.

The new library will be built on a 80,000 square meter plot located in the central area of the city.

Van Egeraat has tried to develop a building being part of public domain and street life, offering, by means of a great 18 meter high entrance hall, a permanent invitation for the pedestrian to get in and use the building.

The building will be located on a slight knoll that will make it stand out from the rest of the buildings. In addition, it is also used for communicating a previously existing park on that hill with Tukay square, where the building is located.

Egeraat has also proposed the construction in the same neighbourhood of the new National Bank of Tartarstan headquarters, planned by the authorities on another location. The proposal of the Dutch architect its aiming to turn the the area into a kind of “hub” of the urban life of the city, around present buildings helping to strengthen Kazan’s image of modernity.

The project is the cornerstone of the urban remodeling of Kazan, and could serve as an example for other urban regeneration plans in different places across Russia.