Essence of 220 Years of the Library Utstilling by Maria Gazdag

Essence of 220 Years of the Library Utstilling by Maria Gazdag is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award i Jern in Interiør- og utstillingsdesign Competition Category.

JernInteriør· 2023

Essence of 220 Years of the Library Utstilling

by Maria Gazdag

Client: Lulla Interiors

A' Design Award i Jern Winner in Interiør Category

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Verified Award Winner
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Colors

The Design

About Essence of 220 Years of the Library Utstilling

Essence er en pedagogisk utstilling skapt for å feire 220-årsjubileet for grunnleggelsen av Det nasjonale Szechenyibiblioteket i Ungarn. En visuell fortelling basert på bokproduksjonens historie ble designet for å lede besøkende gjennom det noe fragmenterte rommet. Materialer og teknikker brukt til å formidle informasjon til lesere gjennom tidene fremkalles som designelementer, fra velum til digitale overflater, fra fløyel til lerret, fra manuskript til trykte tekster. Farger og teksturer er knyttet til innbindingene av Corvina-verkene, stiftelsesdokumentet og lerretsbokinnbindinger.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award i Jern

Essence of 220 Years of the Library Utstilling er vinner av A' Design Award i Jern, en prestisjefylt anerkjennelse som tildeles gode design som oppfyller de profesjonelle og industrielle kravene man forventer av veldesignede skaperverk. Jernvinnere viser stor dyktighet, høy spesialisering, ekspertforståelse og kreativ kapasitet hos skaperne. Essence of 220 Years of the Library Utstilling forventes å være et høyt ansett, beundret og verdsatt skaperverk som er praktisk og nyskapende. Dette designet, som har vunnet A' Design Award i Jern, integrerer bransjens beste praksis og har kompetente tekniske egenskaper knyttet til kunnskap og talent. Essence of 220 Years of the Library Utstilling respekteres for sin grundighet og er utformet for å gi forbedringer i livskvalitet som bidrar til å gjøre verden til et bedre sted.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The exhibition and the new corporate identity created for the anniversary are interlocked, playing important parts in shaping the library’s new image. The common areas of the working library are used by employees and readers as well as visitors. The library building is in the castle district with lots of tourists who are interested in what is being treasured in the impressive building. Therefore, the exhibition has to communicate to visitors with very different background knowledge. Complexity of the story and the diversity of the space called for flexibility in term of designing the exhibition elements.
Dimensions & Packaging: The brief was to utilize some 1300m2 of common area. The characteristics and functionality of the space used by the exhibition had to be kept intact. In most of the areas the exhibition elements had to be lined along the walls, not to change the functionality of the building. Overhead structures are used to tie areas together where content called for it. Some light effects were added but used sparingly not to change the ambiance of the library, and not to increase energy consumption unnecessarily. The aim was to create an environment which is exciting for exhibition visitors, but homely and warm for employees and readers.
Tags: cultural education, exhibition in a library, interactive exhibition, books, history
Production Technology: Sustainability was an important aspect considered when planning to transform the large, empty, somewhat inhospitable marble cladded spaces. The aim was to use structural material as sparingly as possible, which also helps to keep the characteristics of the spaces. Changing high consuming light fittings and using new light fixtures with adjustable 4000K LED lights apart from reducing energy consumption helped to create a more hospitable ambiance. Reusing picture frames from the storages after giving them a new lease of life with new colours allowed to keep costs lower, and makes it easy to change content in the future.
Design Challenge: The diversified venue and content called for a design element to provide a link visually between the different contents. Nowadays libraries are working on moving their enormous content to the digital space, therefore, the old register cabinets, being distinct elements of libraries for a long time, are disappearing slowly. The catalogue tab used both in cabinets and on digital platform was implemented as a visual link, marking areas, framing content. This also reinforces the impression that these treasures are pulled out of the enormous collection hidden in the storages.
Research: To accompany the story, a visual storyline guides visitors through the exhibition. Hence is the citation of materials, techniques used to pass information to the readers throughout time. Vellum to digital surface, velvet to canvas, manuscript to printed texts etc. Lilac velvet comes from binding of Corvinas, deep red velvet from the binding of the founding charter, anthracite grey from canvas binding. Gold has been highlighting books from manuscripts to present-day editions. The new corporate identity and the interior are reflecting these historical aspects and forming a very strong new image of the institution.
Inspiration: Essence, Esszencia in Hungarian, was dedicated to celebrate the 22Oth anniversary of the founding of the National Szechenyi Library. In 18O2 Count Szechenyi transformed his private library into a Hungarika collection, thus laying the foundations of the Hungarian National Library. The story told also recalls the Corvina Library of king Matthias as it can be considered a historical predecessor. The curators of Essence targeted to present the complexity and multi layered nature of the more than ten million documents. These aspects were to be presented in an integrated educational exhibition in the common area of the building.
Project Duration: Designing the first stage of the project started in January 2022, the second stage was completed on site by 26. November 2022.
National Szechenyi Library Budapest, Hungary
Operation Flow: The space is rather fragmented. This disadvantage was turned to advantage by allocating the themes according to the space rather than forcing and changing the natural flow. The independently interpretable exhibition sections are linked together with a visual storyline creating an integrated story. Interactive screens provide more information and the experience of turning the pages of books treasured in the storages. At the sound terminals visitors can listen to old soundtracks or to present-day guardians of the collection talking about some treasures kept in the library.
Team Members: Creative concept and exhibition design: Maria Gazdag
Graphic design: Tamas Takacs
Image Credits: Photographer: Gyorgy Darabos